Degree in Turnabout
by Sei-sama
Summary: A murder occurs in a college campus, and the victim is found in the defendant's room. Guess who's on the case.
1. Day 1: Beginning

Neh. Played one game of Phoenix Wright (the second, to be exact) and I'm suddenly writing this fanfic. Hm. Well, I think I don't know anything 'bout college, or writing in first person, but here goes...

Oh. And I don't own Phoenix Wright.

And I would also like to thank Charlett for looking over this chapter. Even if I don't exactly know what to do.

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"Where is that girl?" A teenager grumbled impatiently, crossing her arms over her breasts. She fiddled with her glasses and then twirled the strands of black hair that hung down both sides of her head. The teenager was waiting in front of a college. She impatiently glanced down at her watch and threw her hands up in exasperation. "That's it!" She growled and stormed off towards campus. Really, the nerve of that woman. After setting up this time at night, she stood her up! Well…we'll have to fix that, won't we? 

Though she was making a lot of noise, stomping around and grumbling, nobody seemed to wake up. She finally reached the correct door and expertly kicked it down.

"If you don't get out here this minute…!" The last part of her threat died in her throat as she stood there, staring at a body slumped on the floor. Though it was still pretty dark, the lump on the ground was definitely dead – the dark stains on the carpet proved that. But…getting over her shock, the girl noticed the person wasn't the girl she was meeting…he wasn't even female.

The black-haired girl numbly turned her head towards the bed, aware of a lump, signifying that possibly the murderer was still here.

Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney  
Case File: "Degree in Turnabout"  
Day 1

**November 15 11:14  
Wright & Co. Law Office**

After I proved Maya's innocence, (During that incident at Kurain Village…you should have seen me!) there haven't been any jobs for me. Nobody knocks on the door and bursts inside, ready to pour their hearts out about how there had been a murder and this was all a misunderstanding and so-and-so didn't do anything at all. On one hand, it was pretty relaxing not to run around, looking for evidence, and I think I've regained some years (It really does seem true when people say that stress can shorten your life…). On the other…I haven't been getting any money and somehow, I got just about as much money troubles as Detective Gumshoe.

Maya was getting bored as well. I guess even she would after having nothing to do but go to the usual burger place or just hang around in the office, rotting. Pearl left for the Fey Manor after asking me a lot (Really. A lot.) of questions. I didn't mind her asking me curiously about certain shows on the television, but she kept watching soap operas and then stares at Maya and me at certain parts…("Oh, Rick! I truly do love you!")

And that's why I jumped when three quick, sharp raps echoed from the doorway. Maya excitedly soared from her place on the couch and almost ran into the door instead of opening it. I followed behind her, trying to get a glimpse of the could-be client. However, my partner closed the door and sighed.

"So? Who was it?" I asked, though the answer was obvious.

"Nobody was at the door…" The spirit medium replied glumly. I stopped myself from letting out a depressed sigh. I guess I should be happy – the lack of cases meant that not a lot of people are in trouble – not a lot of murders and such, I mean. That would be considered a good thing, right?

Nevertheless, when there was another knock on the door a few seconds later, I couldn't help but rush past Maya and whip the door open, catching the knocker off guard with her fist still raised.

"Uhh…" She stuttered, quickly moving her hand to adjust her glasses. "Well…Phoenix Wright, is it not?" The girl looked around the age where she would be in college. Her hair was black and long and tied into a braid and she had several strands of hair hanging down each side of her head. Said bangs were about chin length.

"Yes, I'm Phoenix." I replied, at a loss to say anything else.

"Well." The girl appeared to have recovered from the surprise. Thinking back, I probably shouldn't have opened the door in such a hurry. "You're a defense attorney, right?" I didn't get a chance to answer. "I would like you to defend my sister-"

"Okay." I said a bit too quickly. Thinking back, I probably should have waited a bit to say that too.

"Ah…I didn't explain anything just yet…" The girl seemed taken aback by my eagerness to take her sister's case, so I invited her in my office and plopped behind my desk. She took this as an indication to sit down and talk business. Maya lurked around the newcomer with inquisitive eyes.

"My name is Seiyaku Mizuki and I go to Gatebridge College. My sister, Seiya Mizuki, has been accused of murder on campus. The victim's name is…ah…whatshisface…" I sat patiently as Seiyaku 'hmm'ed and 'haw'ed, trying to procure the name. I didn't have to think to figure out that the victim of the murder wasn't all too popular. At least not with this person. "Ah!" I couldn't help but jump in surprise at the sudden outburst. "I remember someone calling him Vigo…"

"You don't know his name?" Maya asked curiously.

"Ah, you'll learn it eventually in court." Seiyaku waved her hand, as if dismissing the matter. (Really…she doesn't seem that worried about all this…does she really have _that_ much confidence in me?)

"Well…it would be nice to know the victim's name before hand…" I coughed nervously, hoping that I wasn't going to embarrass myself in the court by not knowing the victim's full name.

"Shaddup!"

"Yes ma'am." Oh great. A woman with a temper. Von Karma would be great friends with her. If they didn't fight first.

"Well, anyways, my sister's accused of murdering this guy. I think you can handle it." Like I have a choice. I did accept the case a moment before. But a thought occurred to me.

"Why would she be accused for this murder though?" Seiyaku hesitated, making me almost regret accepting the job.

"Well…the victim was found in her room…" Oh. Well, it could be worse… "…And my sister was in the room as well when I discovered the body…" And now it just did. "Well! Get ready for the trial tomorrow!" Seiyaku said, suddenly sounding suspiciously perky. Before I could even say 'Hold it!', the black-haired girl shot out of her chair and slammed the door behind her.

I slumped back against my chair and sighed, running my hand through my spiky hair. If only my new client wasn't in her room at that time…well, I did want a case, and now I had one. Maya seemed excited enough.

"Ooh! Isn't this mysterious?" She cried. "C'mon, Nick! Let's go to the Detention Center!" Yet again, I didn't have time to yelp 'Objection' before Maya grabbed me by the arm and flew out the door.

**November 15 1:21  
Detention Center, Visitors Room**

We made a quick stop before stopping here, to buy some burgers for Maya. I patted my poor empty wallet (it was in my pocket of course) subconsciously while she filled her own belly and ravenously devoured the cooked cow. Then the door opened and a girl who looked similar to Seiyaku solemnly walked in. Obviously the defendant, Seiya.

This girl also had black hair, but I did notice some really faint dark red highlights. Her long hair was tied into a ponytail but had hair hanging down in front of her face, almost like her sister's. The only difference was that Seiya let down enough hair to remind you slightly of The Ring. She wore a cream-colored, floppy hat that hid most of her face. Fitting her droopy demeanor was her baggy black T-shirt with a skull and crossbones on it and several skull necklaces that I noticed when she first walked in – they clanked a bit against her petite chest. She looked pale and thin, almost unhealthy.

Seiya sat down in the chair behind the glass and immediately found the floor interesting. (No wonder she was accused…besides the fact of being found with the victim in her own room, she does look rather shifty and suspicious…) Several minutes of doing absolutely nothing passed. My partner brought it on to herself to liven our client up. "Hey, Seiya! This is your attorney, Phoenix Wright, and I'm his partner, Maya Fey! We're gonna be defending you!"

When Seiya continued to stare at her shoes, Maya pressed on, determined to get a conversation going. "Me and Nick believe you're innocent, but you're gonna have to answer a few questions." No response. I bet Maya would be tempted to sharply rap on the glass and ask in a singsong voice 'Helloooo…anybody home?'

"So Nick." Maya turned to me when it was obvious that the gloomy figure in front of us wasn't about to say anything. "Go ahead and ask your questions." I coughed. Right. Questions.

"So…" My mind was racing already. Introductions were already done, "…Do you mind telling me your relation with the victim…ah…" Oh yeah. Her sister left me the benefit of doubt.

"Vigo…" I almost didn't hear her say it; the voice was that faint.

"Vigo…?" I urged, hoping to get the name of the victim at last.

"…" She stopped there.

"You don't exactly remember the victim's name either?" Maya inquired thoughtfully. "Your sister forgot it too. He's not very popular, is he?"

"…Actually, he is." She mumbled softly. The unsaid question was promptly answered afterwards. "I don't talk a lot to other people…" I almost doubted that and wondered whether it was the other way around, seeing how depressing the girl looked.

"So you don't know the victim at all?" I asked. The girl slowly shook her head in response. "But…" She suddenly said, staring upwards this time. I could imagine a glazed look in her eyes, even though I couldn't see them.

"But…?" I echoed. Seiya jumped and stuttered out an apology for spacing out and continued her previous statement.

"…I think he's the tall blond guy…" Seiya replied before staring back up at the ceiling.

I remembered her apology from before and curiously asked, "About spacing out…do you do that often?" There was a long pause in which Seiya slowly tilted her head down from the ceiling. I imagined her blinking in confusion.

"Ah…sorry…I just space out a lot…it's just something I do…" She started tilting her head upwards slightly, but then stopped herself, avoided our eyes yet again and continued, "So what were you asking me?" (She answered my question without realizing…)

"Do you know anybody who might have a grudge against either you or the victim?" I finally asked, hoping we would get more information than from the other questions. However I doubted that someone this quiet would suddenly start talking her mouth off, telling me every little detail of...everything.

"…No…" Seiya went back to looking down at her baggy pants. I jumped as out of nowhere, several chains came flying down and locked themselves up with two red locks.

Maya noticed my surprise and whispered to me, "What is it, Nick? Another Psyche-lock?" I nodded in response and muttered back, "Two" before looking back at Seiya. It was tempting to break those locks and figure out who had a grudge on my client or the victim (and therefore was the most likely to be the real murderer) but I had yet to investigate anything. I would need more information before unlocking those locks. Before we left, Maya had a question of her own.

"Why're you so quiet and shy?" My partner asked, peering curiously at the introverted defendant.

"Ah…um…" She stuttered back, starting to play with her own fingers. "I just am…I usually don't talk to people unless I get a good feeling from them…" Apparently she didn't exactly 'get a good feeling' from us at that moment and this was probably all I could get out from her. At least we got words other than 'No' or 'Yes' from her.

She stood up from her seat and bowed in apology for possibly causing confusion and told us how to get to her college, the scene of the crime. (I know she doesn't know I don't have a drivers license just yet…but it still hit a nerve…) Then she bowed again and walked into the door that the guard held open for her. The necklaces clanked as she stumbled backwards from the impact. (That's really spacy…)

When our client staggered through the door, we walked out of the building. Maya said, "Seiyaku's right. She doesn't seem like a murderer, does she?"

"If she did murder, it was probably an accident." I couldn't help but say. It was easy enough to imagine spacy Seiya tripping with a knife in her hand, right into a hapless victim, or maybe bumping into someone while walking around on a cliff, subconsciously pushing an innocent tourist off. I tried cutting off my train of thought, nervous as to what she might accidentally do around me. "We should probably head off to Gatebridge College now." I straightened my blue suit and, slightly scowling, hailed a cab.

* * *

Hahahah. Apparently, Phoenix doesn't have a drivers license. Hum. Maybe I'm wrong though. 


	2. Day 1: Investigation

Hah. I took my time with this, didn't I? Yes. Verily so. Anyways, I'll edit this when I see fit, as I think my beta's busy at the moment.

Anyways, I have fun with tempermental people.

Disclaimer: You don't really need one, do you?

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Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney  
Case File: "Degree in Turnabout"  
Day 1

**November 15  
Gatebridge College  
On-Campus**

Click

"Gah!" I cried as, instinctively, I raised my arm to cover my eyes, even though there was nothing to protect them from anymore. I blinked and lowered my arm, trying to ignore the flashing blue blotches popping in and out of existence. Standing in front of me was the perpetrator, in his hands the large camera and the flash that temporarily blinded me.

The boy had freckles and dreadfully messy sandy hair, but for some reason, his clothes were nicely kept. He wore a white shirt with a tan vest over it, topping it off with a red bow tie nicely clipped around his neck. His brown pants were wet from about the knees down. Somehow, even the snow outside had frozen over, so that you could stand on it. Maya tried walking on it earlier (for fun), and while walking up the stairs to the college, I almost slipped, only saving my suit by clutching on the hand railing in time. This guy probably wasn't as lucky as I was. It's interesting how cold San Francisco can get.

"Oh! You look like a reporter!" Maya suddenly shouted, looking quite pleased with herself.

"Tha's right, m'lady!" The boy grinned widely (I noticed there was a gap where a tooth might have been) and held his camera to his eyes again to take another picture, as if to emphasize this point. I was ready this time and covered my face with my arm right before another blinding flash. It would be better for the humanity if the guy just took off the flash, but if he would use it in a lighted hallway, then he probably wouldn't want to take it off. "I used t' write some newspapers 'ere, but then I was almos' kicked out fer sellin' unauthorized thingummywatzits." He spoke pretty fast and excitedly.

"Hey! You have a strong accent too! Where did you come from?" Maya asked curiously (I decided not to mention the boy's obvious fake accent.)

"Ah, y'know…moved 'ere from…there." The messy-haired boy waved his hand very unspecifically. "Well, I'm 'spirin' t' be a newspaper reporter, if yer wonderin'." (I wasn't, really…) He said, changing the subject rather quickly. "Just in case y' were wond'rin' 'bout m' name too, 's Andy Monger." (I wasn't wondering about that either…) "So…have ya heard 'bout Sei bein' a murd'rer? Killed Vigor Raus 'parently." Well, at least the name Seiyaku and Seiya gave me was only one letter off, if you didn't count the fact they never gave me a last name.

"Actually, I'm here to find something that could help prove her innocence." I replied.

"Nick's a really great defense attorney!" Maya piped in cheerfully.

"Ah, so y' don' think Sei's guilty?" Andy grinned widely again. I had a feeling he was laughing at me. "Welp, ask me anythin' if y' think it'll help yer case. I'll help any way I can."

I was going to the scene of the crime, where Vigor was apparently killed, but whatever information Andy had might be useful. He was a "reporter" after all. "Okay. First, do you know anything about the defendant?"

"Y'mean Seiya? Sure do! This is her second year in college. She likes fruit, 'specially wa'ermelon, video games, 'n' drawin'. She doesn't like spicy food and cold weather, she's considered th' smartest person 'ere. She was also caught in some sorta freak accident in her first year. She's 'bout six feet tall, weighs 'bout 120 pounds, an' has pretty small boobs, no cleavage as o' yet. I have a file wit' more info 'bout her, if ya wanna look at it."

Andy beamed at me. I stared back. "You do know I'm only her lawyer, right?" I asked slowly, trying not to wonder how Andy found out my client's likes and dislikes. Maya blinked and held her chin thoughtfully.

"You said she was in an accident?" She finally said, looking back at Andy. The freckled boy nodded eagerly back. "What kind of accident?"

"Well…I wrote an article 'bout it. I'll dig it up fer ya, but it'll take a bit."

I had another question, but I was almost afraid what kind of information might pop out of the slightly enthusiastic reporter's mouth. "And do you know anything about the victim?"

"Vigor? Well he was one o' 'em athletic types. Played football 'n' 's good at 'bout every sport he tried. He gets...I mean got violent when he drank though. He was more th'n six feet tall 'n' had these reeeaaally huge muscles. Pretty heavy too, y'know. The length o' his-"

"Please skip that." …How did he find out _that_ information?

"Huh? What was he gonna say, Nick?" Maya asked me. I didn't reply (which probably made her more curious, but it was the only option at the time...)

"Fine th'n." Andy searched his head for other juicy tidbits and then procured something. "He had a girlfriend, her name's Yveri Jalus. Really great couple. If ya want, I can dig those files up too."

More files? "Well…not rea-"

"Don' worry, sah! I can give ya those files tomorrow! Maybe!" The messy-haired boy saluted smartly, still clutching his camera with his other hand.

"Hey, wai-"

"Say…do you have files on everybody in this college?" Maya interrupted. Andy nodded fervently. "Isn't that a bit creepy?"

"'A bit'?" I grumbled. Andy's eyes grew bigger and seemed teary, like puppy-dog eyes.

"It's just a hobby!" He sobbed, threatening his camera with tears. "It's not like I'm a stalker or anythin'! It's just somethin' I do!" Okay. _Definitely _time to move on. I grabbed Maya's arm, circled carefully around the sobbing Andy, and walked swiftly away, not stopping until I reached a door. Well, actually, the door had been kicked down. Whoever kicked it was strong, as the door was thick and bent slightly from the impact of the hit. It would probably be terrifying to meet such a person…

"Andy would be a pretty good investigative reporter." My partner commented lightly, apparently unfazed by Andy's little 'hobby'. I just went ahead and peered into the open room, noting the police milling about inside and a large double bass that lay besides its case. When I took a step towards the door, I managed to hear a light cracking sound beneath my feet.

"Hm? What's this?" I asked out loud, bending down to pick up small glass shards. "Why would these be in front of Seiya's door?"

"Her room's really messy." Maya responded. Messy wasn't exactly the word for it. There were clothes strewn all over the floor. I could clearly see an open trashcan that seemed empty, but the part of the floor that the clothes didn't occupy, small wrappers and bottle caps did. Even the books were shoved sloppily in the bookcase besides the base. I could clearly see two cats meandering around the legs of policemen, and even though I wasn't in the room yet, stray cat hair was visible on pretty much everything. There were also small amounts of what appeared to be vomit on the floor and if you ask me, the cats were the ones to blame. A room tells a lot about a person…

"You've got a point but…" The glass shards I picked up were outside the small apartment. No matter how messy Seiya was, even her trash couldn't teleport outside her door, right? There weren't enough shards to make up a whole bottle (or whatever it was) so she couldn't have dropped it out here either.

I was aware of a flash behind me (aware might not be the right word) and knowing only one (very creepy) person with a flash like that, I was going to turn around and ask Andy how he got over his emotional breakdown so fast, but a familiar voice interrupted me from doing so.

"Hey, pal! No taking unauthorized pictures of the crime scene!" And lo and behold, angry Detective Gumshoe comes, a scowl on his face, his scruffy coat flying dramatically behind him! The detective gave chase to the college reporter behind me and came back, looking quite unhappy. "Darn kids…" I heard him mutter under his breath before taking notice of Maya and I.

"Oh, it's you guys…" He said, blinking in slight surprise. Really, I would have thought he would expect us by now.

"Hey, Detective Gumshoe!" Maya grinned cheerfully besides me (as always).

"Oh ho! I know what you're doing!" The scruffy man shouted back. Not knowing what exactly Maya and I were doing, I allowed Gumshoe to continue. "You want to investigate the crime scene don't you?! Well sorry, pal, I can't let you!" Somehow, I think I've been in this type of situation before…

"Don't look at me that…" Gumshoe looked away nervously a few seconds later. I tried to hide my bafflement, in case he decided to give us some information. "You can ask me a few questions, but no touching anything!" Gumshoe is a good friend. He's loyal, and he's funny (though you probably don't want to laugh at him out loud. It might get him angry.)

"So…about the murder…" I started.

"Oh, well we started examining the victim immediately, of course." Detective Gumshoe seemed to puff out his chest, though I don't know why. He didn't examine the body himself, did he? "Apparently the poor sap got shot in the head. Death was immediate. Here…I got an autopsy report for you, pal." I accepted the small brown envelope.

"The murder happened late last night, at about 11:18, so there aren't a lot of witnesses." The detective scratched the back of his head. "There just happened to be some sort of college party and the only people who didn't go were the defendant, her sister, and the person next door."

"Huh…didn't the person next door hear anything? The victim was shot by a gun after all." Maya said thoughtfully.

"Apparently, she's a really heavy sleeper."

"Hmm…" Gumshoe noticed the doubtful tone in my voice.

"Hey! What's that 'Hmmm' for, pal? You think I'm lying?"

"N-no! Of course not!" Time to change the subject. "Uh…well…find anything yet?"

"Actually…there's a lack of evidence…"

"Hu-huh? Really?" Maya looked excited. I can just imagine her saying 'How suspicious!'

"Yeah. The victim was found in the defendant's room, and the body was discovered with the defendant still inside. We haven't found the murder weapon or anything. No signs of a fight either. We even looked outside, around the windows." I noticed that Gumshoe's pants looked wet underneath his coat. "So we're cleaning the place up, checking to see if we missed anything. We took a few pictures before we did that though. Man, what a dump, eh pal?" 'Is that really what you should do?' is what I would have said if it wasn't for...

"Oh? So you think I live in a dump, do you?" The dangerous sounding voice sent chills down my spine and I swear the temperature dropped at least thirty degrees. I tried to jump back and spin around at the same time, which didn't exactly work out as I planned. I still got to see the figure in the doorway as I stumbled into Gumshoe.

"Ah! Seiyaku!" Maya shouted needlessly. I could feel Gumshoe freeze up behind me. Maya jumped away as the black-haired girl stormed towards the detective. I scurried away too, leaving Gumshoe alone to deal with the angered girl. Judging from the plastic bags, it appeared that Seiyaku had been shopping.

"Answer my question!" Poor Gumshoe.

"Well…ah…er…I didn't know…"

"Didn't know that I'm my own sister's _roommate_? What kind of detective are you?"

"Actually…um…"

"And do you actually expect me to testify against my own _sister_? Yes, I discovered the body, but that's no excuse!" Poor, poor Gumshoe. On the bright side, I found out some classified information…

"Well, you see…"

"Let me guess. It's your job." The way she said it, it was like she was spitting venom. I could literally see Gumshoe shrink down while Seiyaku continued shouting at him. "I was questioned for what I saw! For hours! (exaggeration) And then they said that I have to be a witness! So then I asked them 'WHAT IF I DON'T FREAKIN' WANT TO!!!' And I still have to testify!" She suddenly grinned happily (sorta like Maya with a burger) and held up her shopping bags. "So I bought myself something real nice!" I blinked at the obvious change of mood and cautiously stepped forward. I don't know why…maybe to divert her attention? But then she had a furious expression on her face again and something in my head told me I was doing something suicidal.

"Nick…she's scaring me…"

"And then I come back here to find you BADMOUTHING MY HOMEY ABODE!" It doesn't look so homey right now…but I wasn't about to speak my thoughts. Even so, the girl looked at me. I winced. "You! Shut up!"

"But I didn't say-"

"SHUT UP!" Needless to say, I did so. She turned back to the hapless Gumshoe. "Well, if you think it's so messy, why don't you clean it up?"

"But we ar-"

"CLEAN IT UP!" At this point, Seiyaku was so moved by anger, that she threw her shopping bag, where it made a direct hit on Gumshoe's forehead. I heard a loud thunk. Gumshoe fell over on his back with a thud, then got up quickly and ran away, wiping a table with the sleeve of his coat desperately, as if his life depended on it (which I think it did). I thought I saw some blood on his forehead. (What exactly did she buy?!)

"So…" Seiyaku was smiling again, which was much scarier than when she was angry. Maya shivered besides me, or maybe I was the one shivering. "Why are you here? Can you prove my sister innocent yet?"

"W-well…I've only just started…a-and I hope you don't mind, but can we ask you some questions…"

Seiyaku frowned, but then said, "Alright. As long as it helps my sister." I breathed a sigh of relief.

"You're a witness for tomorrow's case, huh?"

"Maya!" I hissed, remembering part of Seiyaku's rant. "Don't get her angry again!"

"Oh!" Maya realized her mistake and we both looked fearfully towards the temperamental girl, who stared calmly back at us. The calm before the storm. "Um…you don't have to answer that question if you don't want to…"

"No, it's fine. I guess I'm a witness 'cause I was the one who discovered the body. Though I don't see the point. All I did was kick down the door and see the body."

"Ah. You're the one who kicked down the door?" I said nervously, though I should add that by this time, I wasn't exactly surprised.

"What? You think a girl can't kick down that door?"

"Nick! Girls can be just as strong as guys!" Maya turned on me, though I can't really understand why…

"Huh? No, I didn't mean it _that_ way!" Besides, _I _can't even kick down a door…

"Well anyways, yes, I did kick down that door. And my sister was in the room, in her bed, sleeping. The time was about 11:30. I should know. There's a digital clock right next to Sei's bed." I looked at the mentioned area and strained my eyes looking for this clock. There was an unusual abundance of socks piled on it. "After going over to check that my sis was in bed, I called the police. There was supposed to be another witness, but apparently, she has some sorta business. Said she won't make it to the trial." I wondered how she knew that kind of information and decided that it would be something I'll be glad to never know.

"Well, who's the witness?" Maya eagerly inquired.

"Ah, the girl rooming next door. Yveri or whatever. Used to be the brightest person here, but then Seiya came along. I think there was some sorta test thing that got Yveri to move down to second place…" Well, at least we found out more classified information.

"Hey, Nick." Maya whispered to me while Seiyaku took on a thoughtful appearance. "I just got an idea! Gumshoe is busy, right? So we can look around a bit, right?" I looked back at the poor detective, then at Seiyaku. It was true that the violent girl could probably stop any intervention of whatever Maya and I decided to investigate, but it seemed somewhat criminal. Maya really has a villainous mind. She was already prancing towards a small, crummy-looking television that I hadn't noticed before.

I looked back at Seiyaku, who still seemed preoccupied, before joining my partner. "What's wrong? Missing a show?" I joked.

"Actually, yes." (I was joking…) Maya pouted, but then happily pointed to the top of the small TV. "But I noticed this cool-looking sword!"

"Sword?" I repeated, looking at the object she was referring to. It was also covered with an unusual abundance of socks. Maya curiously reached out to touch the scabbard, but then Seiyaku appeared behind us and coughed loudly.

"Don't touch that! It's a real sword!" She shouted. Maya and I whipped around, and for some reason, I felt like I was a grade-schooler just caught doing something bad.

"Is that really something you should say out loud in the middle of a group of police?" I asked nervously, as the other occupants of the room turned their heads towards the three of us. Even Detective Gumshoe paused in his assigned mission to stare.

"A _real sword_? That's _so cool!_" As usual, Maya seemed to have the wrong reaction.

"Well, it's dulled of course, so you can't really slice anybody with it." Oh, that's good. "But the point isn't. You can stab someone like _this!_" At this point, she suddenly lashed out a finger and poked me in the ribs. Really _really_ hard. I let everybody know this by clutching the offended area, doubling over, and saying 'Ow!' only longer. Why me?

"Why," I wheezed. The girl had a really strong finger. "Do you have a _sword_?"

Seiyaku shrugged. "It looks cool."

Maya nodded. "Yes it does!" (I wanted to scream "That's not the point!") I eyed the sock-covered sword critically.

"That scabbard looks pretty big…"

"Well, the sword doesn't exactly fit for some reason…it's too thin and too short, so I can easily fit something down in the extra space. Of course…maybe the scabbard's too wide and too long…"

There was an awkward cough behind Seiyaku and a timid-looking Gumshoe appeared behind the girl.

"Um…well…I think it's time we wrapped up the investigation, pal…"

"Well, you don't need to tell me that! Just go if you really want to!" Was the harsh reply. Looks like for the time being, scruffy detectives don't really get on her good side.

"You know, I'm sorta hungry…" Maya commented, rubbing her stomach in emphasis. She then looked expectantly at me.

"Now that you mention it, I could go for some grub too." Gumshoe added. I clutched my wallet, but then, surprisingly, Seiyaku came to the rescue, beaming like hamburgers-with-Maya again (also creepy).

"Don't worry! I know a good restaurant. We can go there, if ya want. I'll pay for everything!" I stared incredulously at her. The girl said that as if there was something to celebrate…(like a 'Not Guilty' verdict…it's possible that she's trying to put more pressure on me.) not to mention that she had snapped angrily at the detective only a few moments ago. Hm. One sister is silent, and the other suffers from mood swings…

Gumshoe and Maya weren't one to pass up a chance of free food. "Alright! Let's go!" Maya cheered while Gumshoe beamed and gave the girl a 'Thanks, pal!' while standing more than three feet away from her.

"I'll just take it out of Wright's paycheck."

"Huh?!"

* * *

Have you ever wondered how much money Phoenix actually gets? 

Anyways, I actually got two reviews on the first chapter! Gimme more reviews so I can harness the adrenaline-thing and post the third chapter really soon! I don't care if you already reviewed on the first chapter...


	3. Day 2: Trial Former

Hahahah. I had the third chapter already done when I posted the second chapter. Anyways, I hope people aren't bored with this already. Hahahah dinner. I might post something extra about what the dinner was like.

Anyways...Disclaimer. You probably know I don't own anything I write, or I'll probably force you to pay for reading this load of junk. Or maybe I'm weird.

* * *

Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney  
Case File: "Degree in Turnabout"  
Day 2

**November 16, 9:42 AM  
****District Court  
****Defense Lobby No. 2 **

Maya and I thanked Detective Gumshoe for driving us (I noticed a bandage around his head) and walked inside the building (almost slipping on the ice once or twice). We were early, of course, so we just sat on a bench and waited patiently outside, like we usually do. While Maya was trying to be patient, I reflected on the dinner last night.

Gumshoe ate like he would never get the chance to eat again. Maya ate like no tomorrow. It wasn't like they ate extremely quickly or anything, just that the two together would eventually eat a person out of house and home. Seiyaku suddenly had a malicious glint in her eye as she stared at Gumshoe, so I tried to distract her (no use for unnecessary violence after all…) and we ended up talking about Seiya and the trial.

_"Yeah, she's pretty shy, because she usually don't like talking to people. Dunno why. Maybe she doesn' like 'em or trust 'em or something." _She had said. _"She just opens up to people she thinks she can, maybe. Or maybe she really does get a 'feeling'. Even if she does like you enough to talk to you, she usually won't talk much. Just doesn't like talking." _

A client that doesn't like to talk. Either that or just doesn't like me. My job seems to attract people with vocabulary that doesn't have 'cooperation' anywhere in sight.

Maya jumped up when she noticed Seiya come in through the door. "Hey!" She cried enthusiastically. The bleak girl stared (?) back through her hat.

"So…today's the day, huh?" I said conversationally. She showed as much response as a brick wall. "…Right. Well…I guess we better go soon. The trial…you know…" And then she murmured something. I was completely caught off guard. I didn't expect her to _say_ anything… "H-huh?"

"I said 'Good luck'…" With Seiya, I wasn't exactly sure if she actually meant it. She was looking away at me, to some interestingly bland floor tiles to the left. Call me paranoid, but she was looking doubtful. (It would be nice if people actually mean what they say…) At that point, Maya called us over, and the bailiff escorted us in.

**November 16, 10:00 AM  
****District Court  
****Courtroom No. 6**

A crowd filled the stands, talking animatedly amongst themselves. I always wondered how the same people manage to go to every one of my cases. Maybe they were fans (which is flattering and frightening at the same time. I can understand actors or singers having fans, but a defense attorney?) Or maybe they just thought watching me get whipped by Franziska von Karma was funny (which it isn't).

The Judge (real identity unknown – I just call him the Judge) hammered his gavel and started the trial in the usual way. "This trial is now in session for Ms. Seiya Mizuki."

"The prosecution is ready, Your Honor." Franziska said across the room, glaring at me, which would be the usual way if I didn't only have one case against her.

"The defense is ready, Your Honor." If you ever wonder what would happen if you said, 'The defense is not ready', then I'll have to tell you that you don't want to say it. Not even when it's true. Especially when you're in public, in a court, with Franziska and a whip in hand, quite ready to start ranting about fools. Plus, it's not the usual way.

"Very well." The Judge nodded like a well oiled machine (I've noticed that sometimes his brain doesn't act as so). "Ms Von Karma, your opening statements please." This is the part where the prosecution rubs (or whips) in my face that they have super evidence and enough witnesses to prove the obvious: the defendant's guilt and that we're all wasting our time by having this foolish trial. At the same time it's supposed to depress the defense. (It usually works)

Franziska smirked that smug…smirk and curtsied in that irritatingly mocking way. (Von Karma seemed to teach his daughter to curtsy, but I've never seen him bow. Only snap and shout Objection in a very demonic way…) "The prosecution knows that they have the evidence and witnesses to confidently declare the defendant guilty, Your Honor. It is, therefore, a waste of time to hold this case."

"Even so, we must proceed…" The Judge said. He looked ready to flinch.

"Very well. I call Detective Dick Gumshoe, the detective in charge of the investigation, to the stand." On cue, the large and awkward detective lumbered to the podium. The Judge was about to say something about the bandage, but apparently decided against it. "Tell this court about what happened." Crack. The detective swiftly whipped out a small grubby sheet of paper, as if he had been waiting for this moment all his life, like an excited little boy. Or a threatened one.

"Well, y'see, I drew a little map of the dorm." He held up the map, which looked like a bunch of rectangles in a big rectangle. "According to eyewitness accounts, the victim was at a college party, before the murder. Judging by the time it takes to walk back from the party, the victim probably left at 9:35 and arrived in the defendant's room and was shot right here at 10:18. At 10:30, the defendant's sister came in and called the precinct. And…well…that's basically it."

"Testify about the murder." Another crack.

"What, no 'please'?" Maya said right beside me as Gumshoe nervously coughed and began to speak.

"We received a call at the office, I'd say around 11:35, saying that there's been a murder, see?

"When we got there, we found the victim, face down on the floor.

"The defendant admitted that she was in the room the time the body was found, so we arrested her.

"The victim was shot, pal. Bang! Right in the middle of the forehead!

"The murder weapon hasn't been found yet though…but the defendant over there's the only one who could've done it!"

"Hm…that's a very straightforward testimony." The Judge, once again, wasn't exactly on my side. The prosecution just always seems to have a way of persuading the Judge right off the bat that my clients are guilty. Even though it gets really aggravating, it's all worth it once I prove the opposite. Every time I look at my clients during a court case, they always seem small compared to the…everything (Yes, even the huge Will Powers). Them against everybody else.

"Like I said, it's obvious who did it. The only one found in the room that time was the defendant herself. Ergo, she is the perpetrator." Those words shook me out of my thoughts just in time.

"The defense may now cross-examine the witness."

"You can do it, Nick! This is Gumshoe, right? If you just press at the right places, he just might remember something important!"

"That is true…" Though technically it isn't a good thing when you're a detective and you forget something important. Anyways, it's thinking time…or 'press statements randomly' time. I looked once at Seiya's small frame before looking at Gumshoe again.

"So…" I started. Unfortunately, starting off with 'So…' shows that you have absolutely no idea what you're doing. Von Karma's can sense hesitation and usually pounce during then. And having absolutely no idea what you're doing in court isn't a good thing unless you just happened to walk in court and say 'I have absolutely no idea what I'm doing in court.' Then you can just walk out. Unless you're a defendant who has just suffered a small case of amnesia. No, Wright…stop rambling! Time to get to business. "The victim was shot in the middle of the forehead, right?"

"Yup. I took a picture of the victim myself. Nobody moved him before that, of course. I can show it to you if you want! Hang on…where is it…" Gumshoe dug deep in his pockets before producing said picture. "There!" He beamed. The picture was handed to the Judge, who looked at it thoughtfully.

"It doesn't show much, does it?" The old man finally said before revealing it to the rest of the court.

"Ick." Maya groaned besides me. I couldn't help but agree. Gumshoe was able to fit a close up of Vigor's whole head in the shot, bullet hole and all. A thick dark line marked the flowing blood. It sent chills down my back. I hoped there weren't any weak-stomached people in the audience watching us. But even though I wanted to tear my eyes away from the ghastly hole, something was off…like something was missing.

"Even so, the court accepts this as evidence." Great. Now what?

"Hold it…Detective Gumshoe. You said that the body was found face-down on the floor, correct?"

"Yup." The detective nodded back and I couldn't help but grin.

"And the victim was also shot in the forehead, right?"

"Yeah…" I could sense the confusion in his voice and I couldn't help but grin some more.

"Where are you going with this, Mr. Wright?" The Judge was also clueless as usual. I glanced over at Franziska and as usual, she seemed to catch on faster than everybody else.

"Actually, Detective Gumshoe should know better than anyone. You were hit with something in the forehead too, right?"

"Hey, pal, I almost forgot that whole ordeal! Now my head's hurting again…" Gumshoe rubbed his bandage and winced, realizing it wasn't a good idea to rub his bandage.

"The important thing is, which way would a person fall when being hit by something in front of him?" I glanced at Franziska again and grinned (Maybe I was getting full of myself too early in the case, now that I think about it…).

"They…they…fall backwards…" She murmured, though just loud enough for several people to hear – including the Judge.

"Exactly." I think by now, I was emitting smugness.

"Wait…" Something in the Judge's mind clicked. I saw it behind his eyes. "…But the victim was found face down! That means he fell forward, doesn't it?"

"Yes, Your Honor, but he wasn't shot from behind, he was shot in the forehead! So what's he doing face down?" That did it. The crowd was now murmuring loudly (which is an oxymoron by the way) and while the Judge started hammering his gavel, Franziska suddenly attacked.

"Objection! The defendant could have just flipped him over after killing him!"

"Objection! The victim is a very hefty man! Why would the defendant go through all the trouble to just flip him over?" The Judge went on banging his gavel.

"Order! Order! Mr. Wright! I have to ask you a question! What is the victim doing face down?"

"Nick, you do know why, right?" Maya hissed at me while my mind raced. At least my mind has done enough racing to be a champion marathon runner.

"Huh? Oh yeah…right…The reason is…

"Vigor was killed somewhere else and was dragged into Seiya's room." The crowd started murmuring again. Hah, I never thought that they would get so loud so early in the trial! Looking over at Franziska though…

She was smiling again. Crap. "Didn't the defendant notice a dead body in her room?" The Judge asked, looking wide-eyed and baffled after settling everybody down.

"Um…well…my client sometimes isn't exactly aware of her surroundings…" Glancing over at Seiya, she looked asleep then. With her hat on, it was hard to tell. As I watched, her head seemed to sag dangerously downwards, victim to gravity. The Judge noticed this too.

"Well…I have to say, I can agree with Mr. Wright's reasoning…" The Judge nodded.

"Hah. Only foolish fools would listen to such foolish drabble of a fool." Franziska snorted from across the court. "Mr. Phoenix Wright. If such a thing really did happen, do you have proof?"

"Ms von Karma does have a point, Mr. Wright. Do you have any proof that the victim wasn't killed in the defendant's room?"

"Why, of course I do!" I replied in that confident voice that definitely wasn't my own. Defense attorneys are masters of bluff and if you don't know how to bluff, you don't have a defense attorney in you. Maya knows all of this, of course, and she clasped her hands together nervously as I fumbled through the Court Records, maybe a bit too clumsily. And then…

"The proof? It's in this picture, right here!" The Judge leaned forward in anticipation, or maybe his eyesight was going.

"Hm. Right where? I don't see it…" "Don't see anything, pal." Sighing, (and hiding it with a cough) I pointed out the area on the floor, below Vigor's bullet wound. "…Hm…" Was all the Judge had to offer.

"There isn't a pool of blood collecting below the wound." I explained, and a small lightbulb lit up behind the Judge's eyes (I think). "You can clearly see the bullet wound, and you can see the blood was flowing down…but if this body really stayed in this particular place, then where's the puddle of blood? The real killer dragged the body into the defendant's room, noticed the blood trail, and cleaned it up."

"A bit farfetched, but still possible…" The Judge agreed.

"Hoh hoh." Franziska laughed coldly. Crap. "Your Honor, I can clear all doubts of the defendant's guilt. Detective! What did you do during the investigation?"

"Ah…The investigation, sir…" Gumshoe said uncomfortably shifting his eyebrows under his bandage. "…Cleaning up the scene a bit, sir…" Crap. The crowd was murmuring again, but it wasn't a good thing this time. I was sweating bullets by now. It would be nice to wear T-shirts instead, even if it was hellishly cold out.

"Objection!" I shouted as the Judge tried to keep the court silent. I was amazed that I didn't stutter. "They wouldn't clean up a _blood stain_ would they? That room was messy and they just wanted to see if they missed any clues!" Franziska smiled coldly again and snapped her whip. The crowd grew silent immediately. The Judge pounded his gavel once before realizing there was no need to.

"Detective! Did something interesting happen? Say before you moved the victim?"

"Well…I was getting ready to take a picture of the victim so we could move the body…and the defendant's sister was there too…"

"Wait, wasn't the defendant's sister in questioning?"

"Well, I think she wanted to just stay, judging by the way she knocked out the guy who was trying to escort her to the precinct." Oh.

"Mr. Phoenix Wright, please refrain from interrupting this story." Franziska proved to the world once again the coldness of her heart.

"Um…well…before I took the picture, she happened to have a hamburger, see? And…she dropped it on the victim's head…there was ketchup all over the place, so I had to clean it up, right? And blood can be mistaken as ketchup, right? And I might have cleaned almost everything up, thinking it was just ketchup…" Maya had a hungry glint in her eyes, but she knew when to be worried. I wondered how come all the violent girls seem to work against me.

"There it is, Your Honor. The explanation to this foolish blood business."

"But there's still a possibility that there was never a pool of blood there!"

"Mr. Phoenix Wright. You don't have any proof anymore, and I have to say that I doubt something else. You say that somebody else killed the victim, dragged him over to the defendant's room, and cleaned up all the blood? In twelve minutes? You said so yourself, the victim is pretty hefty. You would either have to be strong or conveniently close by to do all that, and even so, I'm doubtful that anybody could do that in twelve minutes and not get caught by the defendant's sister." Ah. Dammit. Or to be consistent, crap.

"Well, what if the real killer was hiding in the room when the defendant's sister came in?"

"I believe that to be impossible and I can prove it. Your Honor, my next witness will prove once and for all that the only possible perpetrator is the defendant herself."

"Well in that case…" Seeing the Judge ready to call in the next witness, I desperately tried to cling on to something – anything that might help my point.

"Objection! This changes the testimony! I wish to exercise my right to cross-examine!"

"How foolish. What's the point of cross-examining? There's nothing wrong with it. You'll just end up pulling out the same baseless reasoning." She whipped her desk. It felt like she hit my stomach instead.

"Nick! Shouldn't we do something?"

"She's right, Maya. Von Karma forced us back to square one. At least we know who the next witness is." Seiyaku didn't seem willing to testify against her own sister. Maybe that would help.

"No further objections? Very well then. We'll take a ten minute break." Bang. "Court is in recess." I allowed myself to slump as I reminded myself that Seiyaku would most likely refuse to talk. I'll just hope that she can be convinced to talk.

Why is it that whenever I take a case, there's always at least one person who makes the day go longer?

**November 16, 10:55  
****District Court  
****Defense Lobby No. 2 **

Almost an hour since the beginning of the case. How time flies.

"Franziska was prepared from the very beginning, wasn't she?" Maya said when it was apparent our client wasn't going to say anything.

"Yeah…that's Miss Perfect Case for you." She prepared for the very thing that could've gotten me a head start on the case.

"Don't worry, Seiya! We'll at least delay this case to the next day!" Our stoic friend showed as much happiness as a blank sheet of paper.

"You don't have to do this…" She mumbled.

"I don't have to, but I can't leave you alone." Maya once commented that I acted somewhat like a typical hero from a comic book or something. Larry, my old friend, said I can be a bit dramatic. Either way, Seiya was left speechless (or just returned to her quiet self) and there was nothing more to say. The recess was about to end anyways.

* * *

Ooooh. Tesstimmoonnyyyy...I have a feeling I did too much with Gumshoe's testimony, but oh well. Deal with it. 

And please review. I'm lonnlleeyyy...


	4. Day 2: Trial Latter

Finally updated. Many of you may be the impatient type like my sister (Motto: "Update already, you friggin' fanfic!"). I have one word for you. Screwyou. I am in no way projecting a concealed message. That word that I have just presented to you is Chinese for 'All you readers are so delightful.' The Chinese have a way of putting ridiculously long phrases in just one character/word. Really.

Disclaimer: Everything I write isn't true.

Disclaimer: The above message is false.

Now please enjoy the fourth installment of this amazingly good story, which nobody reads. I really hope that last part is really false.

* * *

Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney  
Case File: "Degree in Turnabout"  
Day 2

**November 16, 11:05  
District Court  
Courtroom No.6**

Everybody shuffled back in the court again and immediately began to talk animatedly, as most crowds do (it was inevitable – whenever people get together in groups of more than three, everybody just _has _to talk.). The Judge hammered his gavel three times. "This court is back in session for the trial of Ms. Seiya Misuki."

"The prosecution is ready." For some reason, I had a feeling an 'as always' was missing in that sentence.

"The defense is ready." At least I was confident about one thing about this case. Besides Seiya's innocence, I knew that it was going to be hard for Franziska to explain how Vigor was found face-down. So I had to make sure that that little detail wasn't forgotten.

When I pulled myself out of my muses, Franziska had just said, "…Seiyaku Misuki, the defendant's sister, to the stand." and the said girl walked up. She looked calm, but her stare sent shivers up my spine – Seiyaku was definitely irritated.

"State your name and occupation for the record."

"You just said my name and there's no need to state my job." The fight was on. Somehow, I knew this was gonna happen…

"Just say it anyways." Franziska seethed narrowing her eyes and gripping her whip, reminding me of the Old Western type showdowns in the movies.

"Seiyaku Misuki. College student and finder of dead bodies." And Seiyaku is in the lead! If I wasn't for the fact that I already knew Franziska's personality fairly well, I would expect her to respond with a 'Hardy har har'.

"No unnecessary comments." Franziska growled, whipping her podium. "Testify to what you saw that night."

"Hey, that old guy runs this court, doesn't he?" The Judge looked around to see if there were any other old guys that could run a court before accepting the fact that it was him. "Why do you act like you own the place?"

"No unnecessary comments!"

"Begin your testimony now, witness!" The Judge added, staring down at Seiyaku sternly.

"Alright, listen up. I was running back to our apartment, right?  
"So I kicked down the door…dumb thing wasn't very strong anyways.  
"I saw that dead guy on the floor, then called the police."

"That's…very short…" The Judge added. He forgot to mention very vague. I thought she would help us, but looks like I was wrong… "The defense may now cross-examine the witness." Augh! What am I supposed to do with that little information?! Franziska looked smug. Damn her.

"I would like to know…" Thinking…thinking… "Why you were running back to the apartment. You make it sound like you needed to do something urgent."

"Oh, that. Well, my sister was late for a meeting we planned, so I got angry waiting outside and ran over to our apartment." So far, she didn't seem to be lying. (Just in case you're wondering, I didn't have my Magatama right then. I've gotten into the habit of leaving it with someone else or at home when I'm about to go to court. The thing is, the first time I walked in with the thing, the bailiff noticed the green glow and confiscated it. I'm not sure what he thought it was, but he told me very clearly not to bring 'that glowy rock thing in here again'. Then he nodded to himself and said something like 'That'll fix up that game contradiction.' I had no idea what he was talking about, but needless to say, I obeyed. I never saw that bailiff again.)

"What kind of meeting was it?"

"Just a meeting. It's none of your business." Here comes the uncooperative part. Trying to squeeze out information might not work, but it was worth a shot.

"It was very cold that night. I really wonder why someone would wait outside to meet somebody, especially when that somebody is their roommate and could just meet them in the apartment."

"Just drop it!" Seiyaku growled viciously, making the Judge (and just about everybody else) jump in his seat.

"Ahem…Mr. Wright, is this line of questioning going somewhere?"

"Your Honor, like I said, it's very suspicious-"

"Suspicious this! Suspicious that! Fine! My sister isn't very social so I made her promise to come out with me to that stupid party, but she never showed up! Happy!?" (No, not really.)

"N-Yes, I'm satisfied."

"Mr. Wright, this doesn't seem like a very significant detail." The Judge said, peering down at me. I agreed with him, but I was groping here! I had to have something. Hopefully, it would prove to be useful later…

"Your Honor, this detail is, without doubt, absolutely important to this case!" Once again, a bit too much, but the Judge nodded, convinced and told Seiyaku to add this to her testimony (yadda yadda yadda.)

"Yeah, yeah. 'I was waiting for my sister outside, but she never showed up.' Happy?"

"Yes. And also, when the defendant never showed up, did you think it unusual?" Crack. "Augh!"

"If there was anything unusual, the witness would have said so in her testimony." Franziska said smirkingly (if that was possible).

"Hey! I can answer myself – Gack! Damn you! Gimme that stupid thing!" What occurred next was a scuffle and a little tug-of-war, until several people dragged Seiyaku back to the witness stand (with a little difficulty). It was amusing, but if Seiyaku kept up these acts of violence, she might get kicked out. Better try to distract her from aggravating things…like Franziska's whip…

"Well, it's like Bleach Hair Lady says. It really isn't suspicious, Seiya tends to forget things. But I'm her sister, so I know that, so I reminded her an hour before leaving. And trust me. She doesn't forget something in an hour. If she decided to take a nap, she would've set an alarm clock. She's not a heavy sleeper. She wakes up in the middle of the night randomly sometimes. So I guess I was sorta surprised she didn't show up."

"Really? Waking up in the middle of the night? That seems rather suspicious…" The Judge said, showing that he had less detective skills than Gumshoe by bringing up a subject totally unrelated to the case.

"She's an insomniac. What's she supposed to do?" Seiyaku's temper flared up again.

"Well…I thought insomniacs can't go to sleep."

"Well, Sei's just a different kind of insomniac. She can't stay asleep." That's interesting…though useless… "Sheesh, you're really stupid, old man." Oh boy…I stepped in before the Judge could say anything. (Like "I declare thee kicketh outeth." Though he was probably too intimidated to kick anyone out.)

"And when you kicked down the door, did you notice anything off?"

"Not really. Just the usual. When I kicked down the door, the security thing beeped, like it always does. Everything looked in order (Wrong word to use)."

"What did you do right after seeing the body?"

"Well, I kept my cool. Steered clear of it. I looked at my sister's bed, and she was sleeping there."

"Hm. I would have thought that a young girl would scream as soon as she saw a dead body in her room." The Judge commented.

"Old man…are you a sexist…?" She used the dangerous voice again, the same one she used with Gumshoe.

"N-no! Not at all!"

"Well, of course I didn't scream. I even looked around to see if anybody else was there."

And now the most important question of all that could decide the case: "Was there?" Cue dramatic scene filled with sweating, knee-shaking, and gulping. Cue dramatic close-up on witness.

"I didn't see anyone." She confidently replied. Maya sagged besides me.

"Oh no…what are we gonna do now, Nick? The Judge's gonna think Seiya's guilty for sure…why are you smiling?"

"Because our good friend Seiyaku just gave us our big break." No, this wasn't a bluff. And just to make things dramatic, I waited.

"Hah. Foolish fool. See where your foolishness has taken you? Failure! Judge! By the witness's last statement, it's obvious who the culprit is!"

"It does seem that there's only one possible answer…" The Judge nodded. It was amazing nobody noticed my grin yet (Maya later told me that it was wide, like a crocodile or an alligator.) The Judge prepared to raise the gavel.

"Nick, if you really can do something, do it now!" Alright then. Big breath, confident voice…

"Objection!" I noticed Seiyaku grin with relief. Franziska looked surprised and angry on the other hand. Definitely meant I was on the right track.

"What are you talk-ow!" The Judge started.

"What are you talking about?!" Franziska finished. "What could possibly be objectionable about the testimony?! Judge! He's just trying to prolong my perfect case!"

"I'm not! Seiyaku, please repeat your last statement!"

"'I didn't see anyone'?"

"Thank you." There was obvious confusion. "Now why would you not see anybody else?"

"Objection! She didn't see anybody else because there wasn't anybody else! It's impossible for somebody to drag that body in that room and have time enough to make an escape!"

"Hey! I searched the place thoroughly! I admit I did it a little quickly and that my eyesight isn't the best, but I was pretty sure nobody else was there!" Great. My client's sister is arguing with me.

"Mr. Wright, do you think the witness missed something?"

"Impossible!" Franziska and Seiyaku said at the same time, before glaring at each other. Great. My client's sister is agreeing with the prosecution.

"I believe it is possible there's one place somebody could hide when Seiyaku burst in suddenly!" Insert collective gasps and loud murmuring. "I would like Seiyaku to testify again, about exactly what she did in between the time she found the body and the time she called the police, just to confirm my thoughts."

"Very well." The Judge replied after a moment of pondering. Franziska would splutter in protest, but she was too perfect to splutter. "But if you can't find anything in her testimony that proves that the defendant wasn't the only person in the room at that time, then I will have to give a guilty verdict."

"So I have to talk again?" Seiyaku sighed and scratched her head as if nobody was looking.

"Okay then, listen up. After I kicked down the door…  
"I saw the body. I probably stood there, stunned for maybe a few seconds.  
"Then I went over to Seiya's bed and verified she was there, sleeping.  
"Then I looked around for other people in the room, 'cause my sister definitely wouldn't shoot someone.  
"After that, I called the police, when I didn't find anybody else."

You had to hand it to Seiyaku. She handled finding a dead body really well. I guess she could be calm and collected when she needed to.

Wait…was she the reason everything in their room was messy? Could you be calm and collected and still be violent? An image of Seiyaku tearing things out of every drawer, cabinet, and closet to find the real killer came to mind. Scary…

"…Mr. Wright, the witness just repeated what she told us earlier. Are you sure there's information essential to this case?"

"Of course, Your Honor. Have I ever been wrong about this before?" Then before the Judge could say anything, I quickly started the cross-examination. "Can you be more specific about your search?" I asked.

"Hah, it isn't very interesting. I looked in every closet, every drawer…I even looked in the oven, under the table, under the bed, in the trashcan, under the sink, in the fridge," Seiyaku listed. Some of them seemed like really weird places to hide. What would happen to a person if they tried hiding in a refrigerator?

"In the bass case?" Forget about the places she looked, right now. Just cross your fingers and hope she won't say yes.

"Huh?" Befuddlement – even better.

"Mr. Wright, where are you going with this?" The Judge asked, befuddled himself.

"Well, you see, Your Honor, I visited the defendant's apartment and saw an open bass case and its bass lying right besides it. I just thought that it would be easy for someone to hide in the large case."

"Objection! So, seeing an empty case and a bass right beside it…what makes you think this is related to this case at all? It could be just coincidence. Who says the owner didn't just forget to put it away?" Franziska smirked, and before I could react, Seiyaku butted in with all the force of a bull.

"My sister would never forget to put her bass away! Especially in winter, when the temperature could make it horribly out of tune!" Although one could probably sarcastically remark, 'Oh no, a string instrument out of tune. How will we ever fix that,' Seiyaku could make it sound very dramatic and serious. She could also make it sound like if people didn't take it seriously, they'd get seriously hurt. Several people tried covering up their snorts or sarcastic remarks with coughing.

"Well who knows. Maybe she just forgot today." Franziska shrugged nonchalantly. "Your Honor, we've just dawdled around foolishly, wasting our time. You would be rather foolish compared to what I thought before, if you're not completely sure of the verdict now." The prosecutor snorted, officially making my job harder again. "Mr. Phoenix Wright has obviously proved nothing through this foolish line of questioning. He only brought up a whole bunch of foolish coincidences."

"Mr. Wright, you've had your testimony. Do you have anything that proves the defendant had nothing to do with this murder?" The Judge looked sternly down towards me, dissipating all signs of his dense-ness. (A lot of people I meet are sort of dense, come to think of it.)

"Your Honor, the fact that the victim's body was found face down, and the fact that the bass was found outside its case are related!" I was getting uncomfortable with saying the words 'bass' and 'case' in the same sentence…the fact that they rhymed seemed to dispel the drama. "Think about it. If the victim's body was face down, when it should have been face up, and a bass…a large case was found empty when something should have been inside it, what would you think? Ms. Von Karma said herself, there is no way the murderer could drag the body from one place to the defendant's room and escape without her sister catching them, so the murderer had to hide, once they heard her pounding down the hall."

"Hah, once again, impossible! You imply that the murderer was hiding in the bass case while the foolish witness scurried about foolishly looking for them, but from her testimony, I think that she searched rather thoroughly. No doubt she wouldn't have overlooked the bass case!" Franziska smirked, confident that she had won and I, the foolish defense attorney, had been vanquished. So imagine the look on her face when Seiyaku, once again, butted in with all the force of a mad bull.

"Honestly, I just glanced over that corner…" Okay, all the force of a tame and embarrassed bull. Looking over at Franziska, you'd think she'd be frothing at the mouth with that look on her face. Seiyaku paid her no heed and continued (I marveled at her courage/ignorance.) "I really didn't expect anybody to be hiding in a bass case of all things." (The Judge was about to say it and so was I. "But you looked in a refrigerator.") "Also, I was getting real bored of looking. I started to just glance around and the bass case looked like it didn't hold a person and I didn't notice the bass on the ground, y'know?" The Judge shook his head in a disapproving manner, as if saying 'Not noticing a bass right in front of you?' But of course, he didn't say that.

Instead, he said, "We cannot prove the defendant's innocence with this…but there are still possibilities that another person did the crime. Until there are no further doubts, this case will be prolonged." (Meaning, 'We'll just keep going back to court until the three-day limit is up.') Franziska pounded on her podium with all the tenderness of a rhino while glaring furiously. "Although it may be just a coincidence, we will have to look into that bass thing." The Judge continued, in a slightly louder voice. Franziska's pounding just grew in volume, and I wondered if she ever broke her hand. (I did while slamming on the podium a little bit too enthusiastically once. The podium might have fallen to pieces too. I don't know. I was too busy switching between cursing the heavens above and abstaining from cursing in a courtroom.) I almost didn't hear the Judge slam the gavel three times as he shouted, "Court is adjorned!"

* * *

Now for the most important part of this chapter. Begging.

Really, people. I would like reviews. I'm desperate for some ego-inflation. Or at least people to shout at for hating my fanfics. I am on my knees. My sister can vouch. She's a witness. Those were her actual words. Not really. She actually said 'I'm a witness!' in that really weird tone of hers.

She said it again.

Now she's laughing over my shoulder. Still laughing. Giggling. Keeled over. Said 'I'm thirsty. This isn't supposed to be a documentary, is it? 'Cause it's like...'

Ah, I'll stop there. I am in no way, making my sister feel like an animal in her natural habitat, where her prime prey is me and my dad. And mangos. As well as books, which her keen mind devours. Like me. In fact, my prey consists of watermelon, books, and Bill Gates.

Back on subject. I am on my knees. Please send me a nice, big, fat, juicy review. My ego will thank you for it. And so will our hero, Former President George Bush Senior Who Possibly Barfed in the Japanese Prime Minister's Lap. For he will toss his cookies on yours if you don't. In which case, you will thank him for not doing so.

Another note. I would have clasped my hands together, but it's hard to type like that.


	5. Day 2: Investigation

Ahah! Finally updated! Again! This chapter's super long. 15 pages! And it also has less humor. Or more...drama stuff. Whatever.

Disclaimer: My friends are getting Phoenix Wright now! They like it! Yay!

* * *

**November 16, 12:26  
District Court  
Defense Lobby No. 2**

Being a defense attorney is a good way to kill time. It's not a nice way, but a good, efficient way. As long as you don't mind seeing dead bodies and sweat. A lot of sweat.

"Phew! That had me at the edge of my seat!" Maya sighed loudly. Unfortunately, Maya does not sit down, and neither do I. It's hard to slam your hands on the desk when you're sitting down anyways.

Seiya moped behind me, tugging her hat lower (which didn't seem possible) and fidgeting with her hands. I think she was looking away nervously, but I wasn't sure.

"Uh." She said. "Sorry…but…um…" She added. I tried to be supportive and welcoming of any comments from my client, by basically staring at her. "…If you're going to my apartment later, can…uh…" Seiya seemed to be forcing something out of her mouth and it was the hardest task she ever did. Maya, also trying to be supportive, also stared attentively. Seiya looked at a particularly interesting bench and sounded flustered, even though she wasn't even _saying _anything. "If…if you don't mind…can you put my bass back in the case?" Afterwards, she winced like she just violated a huge law, or maybe committed murder.

That wasn't a very tasteful joke.

Anyways, I replied, "Of course not." It wasn't that much trouble after all, right? Just a bass. I was going to head back there to look around, since I had a feeling I could bet my spiky hair that there was still something hidden in that apartment.

So, after watching Seiya being escorted away again to the Detention Center, I spun on my heels, raised my hand, and said loudly and clearly, "Hey Gumshoe!"

**November 16, 12:30  
Gatebridge College  
Seiya's Apartment **

"Alright!" Maya shouted and rubbed her hands in an eager and sinister way. "Let's get crackin'!"

"Don't forget about the bass…" I reminded her, in case she forgot, which she most likely did. Though she nodded her head (in a slightly spacey and occupied way…), I ended up putting the bass back all alone, which isn't all that hard, actually. The hardest part is lifting up the bag to actually put the swirly knob thingy at the top in it. When I was done with my task, I turned around and found Maya at the small TV again (minus the socks), picking up the sheath, with the sword in it of course.

"Maya." I warned, walking up behind her. "Seiyaku didn't want us touching that, right?"

"Oh relax. She's not here now, is she? It's just really cool and I really wanna touch it. Hey Nick, can I swing it around a bit?" Before I could say 'No' and swipe the dangerous weapon away from Maya, Seiyaku appeared out of _nowhere_ (There wasn't a 'poof' sound or any smoke. One moment there was empty space, and then the next, she was right beside me.) and shouted 'Don't touch that!' while swiping the sword (still in the sheath of course) and simultaneously bonking my partner on the head as punishment.

"Owww…" Maya replied, rubbing the large bump that had grown next to her bun (the one she ties up on top of her head, not the other one).

"Now out! Get out!" Somehow, both Maya and I learned Seiyaku's teleporting trick, for we had both suddenly appeared outside the apartment door. I heard it slam behind me, then lock. There was another audible click of a second lock as well.

"Well, now what do we do?" Maya groaned, either still feeling pain from her recent injury or expressing her feelings of not being able to swing around the sword.

Before answering, I walked back up to the door and knocked on it. An irate female voice replied, "Leave. Don't make me poke you." There was a pause. For some reason, I had an urge to scratch something. The disembodied voice added, "With this sword." I hastily suggested to Maya that we leave.

"There's Andy, right?" I said, moving towards the far side of the hallway, lest Seiyaku suddenly kicks down the door again and jabs the sword at me. "Maybe he's ready to give us those articles."

"Ah, that's right!" Maya grinned, obviously happy at the prospect that we had something to do.

"He never told us where to meet him though." I added. Maya's face fell and she glared at me. With amazing telepathic skills, Maya told me I shouldn't be so pessimistic. She still insisted on trying to find the newspaper man, so we spent several long seconds wandering around the college. We found him in about five of these elongated seconds.

"Psst." A door said when we passed it. Our attention turned to it immediately. The door didn't do anything else. Maya, bored with it already, dragged me along our road of wanderingness. "Psst!" The door said again, only louder. "PSST!!!"

"Maya, I think that door's trying to get our attention." I hinted, looking back at the 'psst'ing door. So then she dragged me up to it and opened it.

Andy was inside. Well, I think it was Andy. The boy had his back turned to us the entire time, so the only thing we could see was the back of the black swivel chair he was sitting in. I had no idea what he was looking at, but judging from the décor, (an old black and white detective movie that has more monologue than dialogue) (By monologue, I mean a voice that nobody can hear besides the people watching the movie and possibly the detective. It usually consists of similes about women, usually pretty.) I think he was staring out a window. Too bad there wasn't a window in the room.

Maya coughed a bit due to the smoke (which wasn't coming from cigars. It smelled like a small fire in an ashtray. It actually was a small fire in an ashtray. Andy was taking this too far). Andy (or at least the boy I assumed to be him) said in another bad accent, "Whaddya want?" He attempted to sound masculine, but he wasn't exactly finished with puberty yet.

Maya, attempting to see through the dim light and thick smoke, replied, "Weren't you the one who 'psst' us? What do YOU want?" There was silence. Feeling that the possible-Andy was expecting something, I coughed and went with the non-feminine stereo-type of these sorts of movies.

"Do you have the 'goods'?" I said in an attempted gruff manner. (I succeeded as much as Andy) Maya looked at me, alarmed. I had no idea what she was thinking.

"Depends on what you're asking for." The chair replied nonchalantly. I coughed out smoke that was starting to build a culture in my throat.

"Well, if you don't have them, I'll just leave…" I started moving for the door, since I didn't even want to look at the stuff anyways. Besides, the dark room filled with smoke and bad accents was starting to annoy me.

"W-wait!" The boy who was possibly Andy cried out, in a not so husky voice I might add, and I heard shuffling of papers and the sound of what I thought to be stacks of them dropping on the desk. The desk groaned. It covered up my own.

When I turned around again to pick up the pile of papers, Andy (who might or might not be himself) had already scrambled back into the chair and turned to the wall/imaginary window, desperate to preserve the clichéd movie environment. Maya and I left before Andy (who quite possibly might not be) could say another word in a bad accent.

"Alright then!" Maya exclaimed right when I forced the door closed behind me, before any of the smoke got out. "Let's look at this stuff now, hm?" Knowing that she would never leave me alone until I actually looked at the files, I complied.

"First, there's the article, about the accident he said Seiya was in." I said, holding up a small article from Andy's newspaper. At the top, there was the name of the newspaper. 'Gatebridge Scandalmongers.' I deliberately ignored it. First skimming the article, I read out loud the parts I thought important, as Maya tried peeking at the article by standing right next to me. "'Just last night, a magnificent explosion occurred in a chemistry room of Gatebridge College…two people were in this room when it happened…one death…'" Maya interrupted me there.

"Woah, one death? Who died?"

"It wasn't Seiya."

"I know that!" My partner puffed her cheeks out angrily while I skimmed through the article again, looking for any sign of a name.

"Andy didn't write any names in here." I finally said. Maybe he thought that he felt the need for confidentiality. Maybe someone threatened him. Either way, we would have to ask around, though as I approached Seiya's apartment again, I didn't exactly feel the urge to knock on the door.

Luckily, Gumshoe was right in front of the door, providing me an excuse to not knock. His bandage was looking rather red. "Hey, Gumshoe." I said casually. He swiftly turned around, then winced and held his head.

"So, whacha doing?" Maya asked, grinning while the good detective recovered from his head pains.

"I was trying to get in, to maybe look around a bit more. Not that I would've found anything if I did…" He replied glumly.

"Seiyaku kept you out?" I asked, though the answer was obvious.

"She threatened to poke me." He sighed. "With her sword." He added quickly. "So, I haven't been able to find out anything. And there's still no sign of the murder weapon either, pal. All I found was another witness." Gumshoe sighed again, as if just finding another witness wasn't enough. It was enough for me. That meant one more person to tackle with. "And the other witness from before came back, though she said she didn't forget to tell me anything from before." He sighed again. I wondered whether he'd start asking for a beer next.

"Another witness?"

"Yeah, some weird enthusiastic guy. Just jumped in and said he saw something." I had a bad feeling.

"And 'other witness?' You mean the one who said she couldn't come to the trial today?" Maya inquired. Her question seemed to snap Gumshoe out of it.

"Yeah, that's right, pal, but don't think about going to her apartment!" He huffed, glaring at us. "I won't let you go in, pal!" He added for emphasis, shuffling to the door next to Seiya's apartment. We both stared at him for a long period of time.

It didn't work.

"Okay, but can I ask you something?" I tentatively asked, directing the question to Gumshoe of course. The scruffy detective turned towards me suspiciously, apparently turning back to the old 'Are you pulling a lawyer trick on me?' way of thinking. "…Can you give us a ride?"

**November 16, 1:50  
Detention Center  
Visitors Room **

Gumshoe grumbled how colleges were always far away from everything, except apartments of course. Maya and I left him to his dark mutterings and entered the building, where we promptly positioned ourselves in front of the glass wall. Seiya was ushered in. She immediately picked up conversation with the floor.

"Ah…you're back…" She mumbled. The floor showed no signs of answering. (It was probably thinking something along the lines of 'I'm always here!') "Did you…uh…" She started, grasping for the words that could describe what she was about to say.

"Put away your bass? Of course we did!" Maya nodded cheerfully, even though I was the only one who actually did anything with the large instrument.

"Ah…well…um…thanks…" Seiya mumbled, rather conversationally, to the wall. "I'll, um, I, thanks." She added. The guard by the door was looking rather amused. "I, um, that is," The girl obviously had no idea what to say next. She was at a complete loss. At least she didn't remind of a knife plunging into my chest now. Or any of the horror movies I foolishly let Larry force me to watch.

Maya tapped the glass wall again, making Seiya jump and stutter out 'Thanks' again. "Your sister's temperamental, huh? She got angry at me about that cool looking sword and kicked us out of your apartment."

"Ah…she can be like that…" Seiya replied, looking off to the side. She looked as if she were seriously contemplating something. "Ah…she does like white chocolate though…if you give her these, she might let you back in again, if you really need it." The girl held up a bag of white chocolates, then realized that she couldn't give us the bag through the glass and quietly asked the guard if he could give them the bag. He checked them (for what, I don't know) and nodded and quickly walked out to grant us usage of said bag.

"Thanks." I managed to grin at her, but she had already stared at something I couldn't see. "Um," I said realizing I should speak louder now, "Is there something special about that sword?" I probably spoke a little too loud, but if I did, Seiya didn't seem to mind this time.

"Hm…? Oh…well…our uncle gave it to us. The sheath wasn't properly made though, or carelessly made…it's too wide…too thick…too long…we stash our money in there since we thought that nobody would look…"

"So it's a gift from your uncle?" Maya asked besides me. "…Does he have another one?"

"Just wondering, do you remember anything that might have something to do with the case?" I asked hurriedly, avoiding a peeved glare from my partner.

"Um…I do remember…when my sister talked about my insomnia, I remember waking up in the middle of the night due to a loud noise…but it came from next door, so I just ignored it…"

"Really? Why did you ignore it then?"

"Well…next door…that's Yveri's room…lately, she's been…uh…" Seiya shifted uncomfortably, unwilling to share what she knew.

"Oh, that's okay, you don't need to tell us…" I waved my hand, hopefully in an assuring way. It must have worked, since she stopped moving around awkwardly and instead appeared to space out again.

"Oh yeah!" Maya suddenly shouted, bringing Seiya back to earth. "You had an accident last year, didn't you?" Not the best way of asking…though she didn't mean to be rude. Seiya didn't seem offended though.

"Yeah…last year…" She looked at the floor. "It was a chemistry thing…but something went wrong…" I couldn't tell with the hat, but I was pretty certain that her eyes started glazing over again. "I…I was helping…someone. Then…there was an explosion…and I was in the hospital next…" She shivered slightly, and looked up, as if waking up from a bad dream. (Rather poetic, but it worked for times like these, right?) "I mixed up the wrong chemicals…I killed someone…" Well, this reminded me of Kurain village, somewhat…

"Seiya, it was a mistake, you didn't mean to kill anyone." I said, trying to sound firm and believable. Seiya just looked down and didn't respond, even when Maya eventually rapped the glass. "C'mon, Maya. Let's go."

**November 16, 2:55  
Gatebridge College  
Seiya's Apartment **

Detective Gumshoe shifted in front of Yveri's door once again as he saw us approach. I nodded towards him, then knocked on the door. Gumshoe noticeably shifted away from me. I also noticed that Maya was behind me instead of beside. Seiyaku opened the door a crack, peered out, and glared.

"In case you can't see, I'm waving my sword in a threatening manner."

"Erm. I'll take your word for it." I replied, backing away slowly and staring at the door.

"Just so you know, I've stopped waving the sword."

"Good to hear." Very cautiously, I took out the bag of white chocolates. I think the crack in the door was staring at me, not glaring, just staring. Very intensely.

"What is that?" The door barked. (Haha. An unintentional pun…)

"What's what?" I asked, trying to look innocent.

"That bag! The one you're holding! It's right there, in your hand! It's white chocolate! Gimme that or I'll poke you!" I was about to walk over when Seiyaku stopped me. "With my sword." She added very threateningly.

"Right, right." I said, handing the door the bag. It snatched it rather quickly, closed for a few seconds, then opened again and we were greeted by a sugar-coated Seiyaku. Not literally.

"Why, if it isn't the lawyer!" She cooed, clapping her hands together in a 'what a pleasant surprise' fashion. "Come in! Come in!" Instead of letting us walk in, she dragged us inside. I saw Gumshoe's wide-eyed look of amazement before she shut the door. "Don'ttouchthesheath!" She barked towards Maya while still retaining the grin. Besides me, Maya looked surprised by the sudden outburst, and then puffed out her cheeks.

"Hey! I didn't even do anything yet! I didn't even look in that direction!" She protested angrily, only to be ignored.

Carefully ignoring my fuming partner besides me, Seiyaku asked, "Is there anything you want to know?"

"Oh, yeah!" Maya calmed down quickly, or at least got as calm as she could. "You know the accident Seiya was in? Do you know anything about that?"

"Of course I do, I'm her sister!" She was smiling, but it sounded weird. That was a comment to snap, not to be said with a grin. "When she came around afterwards, she felt really guilty…about Terry…"

"Terry…?" Maya repeated. "A friend?"

"They were the best of friends." Seiyaku sighed. "He asked for a favor, she said yes, and next thing you know, everything blows up in her face. Literally. They were really close too…and she didn't have to, but she told his brother, apologized, and everything. According to her, he took it well. Said it wasn't her fault, she couldn't help it…"

"Ah…and who is this brother exactly?" I asked, hoped that I wasn't going to get kicked out again for interrupting or something.

"Hm…his name…starts with a 'V'…"

I had a bad feeling about this… "Could it be…Vigor…?" I asked weakly.

"Hm. I think that's his name." She nodded, her braid bouncing up and down. "Yes, probably. It sounds familiar."

"…He's the victim in the murder…" I reminded her. "You were a witness…?" It was amazing, really. Seiyaku just seemed to either forget names easily, or just doesn't like remembering them, or refused to remember them.

"Ah, really? Well anyways…after the incident, Seiya changed. She was more reserved, she always seemed to be thinking about something, and as a result, got spacey and started not paying attention to anything around her. She got lost easily, bumped into things, woke up in the middle of the night…Terry's death really hit her hard. I followed her around, just in case…until I was sure that she didn't need my help all that often anymore."

"That's…really sad…" Maya looked downwards, while I stood there, silent.

"Oh, don't worry about it." Seiyaku said crossly. "Don't cry about it. That happened in the past, nothing to worry about now. Look, why don't you ask about something else? And if you cry, I'm gonna punch your lights out. I don't know what to do about crying people." I could tell.

"Well, about Yveri? Apparently, she's going to be a witness in the case." I said, involuntarily looking at the wall where her room should be.

"Ah, back then, everybody thought that she should go out with V…that guy. So they started dating, just like everybody expected them to. Everybody thought they were the perfect couple, right? In high school, I would have agreed, but now, the relationship seems weird somehow…"

"Hey, Nick!" Maya shouted in my ear. (I could still use it afterwards, if you were wondering.)

"Hm?" I replied, to show her I was listening.

"Andy gave you a file on Vigor, right?" I knew where this was going and took out the files that Andy gave me and opened one up randomly. Amazingly, it was Vigor's.

"Oh, he underlined and highlighted a few things." I noted, looked up at Seiyaku for a second (who started wandering towards the fridge) and started reading them out loud. "'The Perfect Couple: Having a Feud?!?!?'" I stopped. This sounded like some sort of scandal headlines. I also didn't see the point of so many '?'s and '!'s. I read on. The rest were normal notes. "'Death of Terry, V handling well.' 'V starts drinking' 'V a violent drunk' 'Always holds a small pistol'…" I stopped as the story unfolded in front of me.

"…What happened to the pistol?" Maya asked, speaking my thoughts out loud. Detective Gumshoe should have found the pistol if the victim really did carry it around (and I didn't doubt Andy's…sources…). He couldn't have overlooked it. And even if he did forget about it, something would have reminded him, back when he testified. Instead, he said there was absolutely no sign of a murder weapon…Gumshoe wouldn't lie about these things. Time to ask questions.

"Seiyaku? There's something else I'd like to ask…when you came in the room at the night of the murder, did you see anything…ah…pistol shaped?" I asked, then thinking ahead of time, slipped my hand into my pocket. (No, it didn't teleport magically into my pocket…I obviously went back to the office to grab it quickly.)

Her eyes glared at me sharply, and I had an instinct to grimace immediately. "No, I didn't. I would have said something if I did, right?" Two red locks immediately crashed down in front of her chest. "What, you don't believe me?" The girl said haughtily at that time, which I found ironic and hard to stifle a snicker, sort of. Well, time to get cracking.

"Seiyaku…you did see a pistol, didn't you?"

"Feh. I just said I didn't see any weapon of any sort." Seiyaku sat there, tight-lipped, in the midst of darkness and two locks.

"Oh really? Well, take that!"

Seiyaku blinked, confused. "…A glowing stone?"

I made a show of coughing loudly. "Ah, no, just forget it. Anyways, you say that you didn't see a weapon at all, right? I wonder…"

"What? Wonder what? Do you doubt what I saw?" She growled angrily. I ignored any instinct to run away.

"I'm very certain that you did see a pistol."

"Hah, why would he be carrying a pistol with him, eh? You can't prove that he was carrying a pistol when he walked into my room, right?" I let myself smirk, which worried Seiyaku. "No, you can't prove it." She assured herself.

"I'm afraid I can. Take that!" I hefted out the recently read Vigor file. "I believe you are familiar with someone called Andy Monger?"

"Oh that weirdo? Yeah, he's crazy, but he knows a lot about the news and current events apparently.

"Well, he made a few notes about the victim. And one in particular caught my eye. 'Always holds a small pistol'…" Seiyaku noticeably whitened, but only slightly. "He might've not brought it with him to your apartment. That's what you're about to say, right? But Andy is a newspaper reporter. He wouldn't write down something unless he thought that it was true. So he noticed that the victim carried around a pistol constantly. So why would he _not_ bring the pistol with him to your apartment?" Seiyaku opened her mouth, closed it, opened it again as if she was going to say something, then settled for giving me a look that promised me that she would kill me later. But I paid no heed to that, for one of the locks shattered into pieces and I was doing a happy dance in my head.

"Okay, so maybe he brought a pistol in. Maybe I saw it. What happened to it then?"

"You hid it." I said in a matter-of-factly way. She gave me a feral grin, which meant that she was about to metaphorically stop me in my metaphorical tracks by, metaphorically, kicking me right where it hurts.

"Oh really? Who's to say that stupid detective picked up the stupid thing and just forgot all about it? Why would I want to take a pistol?" She smirked at me, confident that I would be unable to answer that one. "That'd be tampering with the crime scene, right?" (Though I acutely remembered her tampering with the crime scene before…with a hamburger…)

"You would want to take the pistol because…of your sister." The girl stiffened noticeably. "You probably didn't want to take any chances. You don't believe that Seiya actually did it, of course, but you're afraid that her fingerprints might be on the weapon."

"Hah. Why would her fingerprints be on the pistol? Why would I think that?"

"Because you have a good idea who the real murderer is, and you know that the real murderer wouldn't be that stupid as to leave their own fingerprints." It was a long shot, but apparently, I was right. Seiyaku shivered in front of me, but the last lock didn't shatter yet.

"Oh yeah? Then where is the pistol now, smartass?" She sounded pissed, but a little scared too. And her voice rose throughout the sentence, like she was drunk. Or maybe felt like she was being hunted. I didn't think that she would attack me, but I was scared. A bit.

"Uh…where is the pistol?" I glanced down to the sword that was still in her hand before answering. "It's the one place you thought nobody would look in, and never allowed anybody near. The sword sheath." The last lock broke just as Seiyaku's face fell, and the first time ever since I met her, she looked truly miserable. Dejected, she turned around and threw the sword in a random direction (thankfully not at a head, though it did hit the wall point first and stuck there.) and walked slowly to the empty sword sheath on the television and turn it upside-down to take out the pistol. Then she slowly walked back, and finally showed the effect of Seiya's accusation. I finally noticed the worry lines and how tired she looked.

"Wright…you will save my sister…right? You believe my sister's innocent?" She asked…pleaded.

"Yes." I replied, and Seiyaku collapsed with relief and composed herself once again, all in one move.

"Fine, I was hiding the pistol. You caught me. Here." She grumbled gruffly and tossed the small firearm at me, which I fumbled with before I actually held it right. "You better get my sister out of jail, Phoenix Wright. I'll kill you if you don't. She wouldn't kill anybody."

"Will do." I smiled at her, but then stopped when she glared at me. She really didn't want any reassuring. I tried to look busy recording the pistol in the Court Record, then went out of the apartment again, where Gumshoe was waiting for me, surprised I wasn't horribly mutilated.

He recovered from his amazement quickly and greeted me with a "Hey, Wright," before looking at me closely again. "I'm still not gonna let you in, y'know."

"Yeah, I know. But I just wanted you to know…" I wondered if I should show him the pistol I found, the murder weapon, came to a decision, and said, "I need a ride…"

**November 16, 3:41  
Detention Center  
Visitors Room **

"Hey, Seiya." I said, trying to sound cheerful, even though she made no effort to act as so. Though she did seem oddly determined.

"Mr. Wright!" She shouted suddenly, making me jump. The guard didn't do anything, amazingly, but it scared me, and Maya made a 'hrnk!' sound besides me too. "Mr. Wright." She repeated, but a fight softer. "I believe that I haven't been very helpful. I'm really sorry…is there anything I can tell you, anything at all? I'll tell you everything this time, for sure!" I squeezed the Magatama tightly. The locks were still there and showed no sign of breaking.

"Really? Great!" Maya chirped and set her hands together joyfully. "Then can you tell us about Terry?"

"Terry…" I almost thought that Seiya was going to retreat back to her old reserved self, but she looked up again. "He was with me during the accident…he's…dead…" I thought she was going to cry, but she appeared to pull herself together. Shows what I know. "He was a very good friend of mine. He was also Vigor's brother."

"Speaking of which, you were lying when you said you didn't know Vigor that well, right?" I asked, remembering that she had made the same mistake as Seiyaku.

"It was sort of a lie. I didn't know Vigor all that well, I didn't hang around with him, but as a friend of his brother, I sort of knew him. He was nice, and athletic, and pretty much all the girls loved him. All the boys wished they were him." I was uncomfortable talking to Seiya like this, as I expected her to '…' in every sentence. There was also something else. Even though she was looking at me, I had a feeling that she was looking _past_ me as well. Looking at something behind me.

"What about Yveri? You said that she's been doing something lately. Can you tell us?"

"Well, I've been waking up and hearing noises next door…I think Yveri and Vigor are…were…fighting. It usually starts with Vigor, I think…It's hard to tell. And then there's glass breaking and shouting." Seiya looked down again. "I think it's my fault…if I hadn't made that mistake, I don't think Vigor would have started being violent. And Yveri would be happy again." I couldn't help but note the 'glass breaking' part and remember the glass shards I found in front of Seiya's door.

"Happy? What do you mean?"

"After Terry was killed…Yveri used to be happy and she laughed…but now, she's cold. I think it's because Vigor started fighting with her after Terry's death. I want to tell her I'm sorry…but she started avoiding me as well…"

"It's not your fault…" I said, though it probably wasn't much assurance to her. Seiyaku must have told her repeatedly back then. 'It's not your fault.' I thought I should leave, but Seiya suddenly started talking again halfway when I turned around.

"…I lied to you about that other thing." She said. I stayed, to let her finish. "…When you asked if anybody would want revenge on me or Vigor, I immediately thought of Yveri…but I didn't think she could be the one. She was too nice…and happy…" I grasped the Magatama, just in time to see the locks explode, and smiled.

"Thanks for telling me that." I told her and walked towards an annoyed Gumshoe.

**November 16, 4:19  
Gatebridge College  
Hallway **

Gumshoe followed us in and then shifted to his new station, but I now knew how to get past him and question the mysterious Yveri.

"Hey, Gumshoe!" He looked at me suspiciously, maybe because that was too loud and cheerful to be me. I should have let Maya do it, but too late. Besides, she seemed depressed after our trip to Seiya.

"'S Detective Gumshoe to you…" He mumbled halfheartedly.

"I thought I should show you what I found recently…" That certainly got his attention. "I found…a pistol. I think it could be the murder weapon you couldn't find." I took it out. (Don't ask where.) He suddenly eyed me like a hungry puppy. A very scruffy one too.

"That's it! That's the murder weapon, pal! That must be it! You gotta give it to me, pal! We've gotta run some tests on it!"

"You know I can't say no to you, detective." I said, still in the suspiciously cheerful tone, and handed the pistol over. Gumshoe was thrilled.

"Thanks pal! I gotta go to the precinct! Gotta run the tests!" He ran off in a hurry. He even forgot to warn me not to go in the room. Not that I would have listened to him if he did…but…

"C'mon, Nick! Let's go in!" Maya grinned, suddenly animated. "This is the only person we haven't questioned…" I complied and went through the door.

"Hn? Who is it?" A tall girl peered at me. She had short brown hair and wore a tank top and a short skirt. (In the cold weather? I was freezing from going in and out so many times!) "Oh, you're not the police, are you? The detective guy wouldn't want me talking to you, defense attorney."

"I'm Phoenix Wright." It didn't feel nice being called a defense attorney, even if I really was one. There was just a feeling I got when someone is talking to me and they just call me defense attorney. Lawyer is fine. Defense attorney just seems…weird.

"I'm Maya Fey!"

"And I'm Yveri. Though you probably already knew that. You have a very strange taste of clothes, girl." Maya definitely didn't like being called 'girl' either. It probably didn't help that she just introduced herself too. "Anyways, you probably want to ask me questions, right? I can't promise you any answers…" She seemed to not noticed how Maya puffed up her cheeks.

"Where were you during today's trial?" She practically shouted. Yveri didn't seem alarmed.

"You sound angry, girl. I was at the graveyard." She stopped there. There was a long silence.

"Uh…why?" I suggested, hoping this wasn't one of those questions she couldn't answer.

"I was visiting a grave, of course." She said nothing else. There was another long silence.

"Um…whose?" Maya volunteered.

"Terry Vous. He was…a friend." She sighed. "And today is the anniversary of his death. I merely wanted to pay respects. Vigor's dead, Seiya cannot leave custody, and her sister was too violent and antisocial to know him. Frankly, I felt it was my duty."

"Where were you when the murder happened?"

"At the party of course. Vigor was there too. He went back to the apartment after a while, to get something I think, but he never came back."

"And you weren't worried?" I asked incredulously. Andy and Seiya were right. The two's relationship was very shaky.

"Vigor's a tough guy. I thought he could handle himself. But looks like I was wrong. He was shot by a weak girl…with his own gun…" Wait a minute…

"How did you know it was Vigor's gun." It wasn't a question, to be honest. Yveri was getting more and more suspicious by the second.

"I'm afraid I can't answer that." She smiled at me grimly, even though she knew that she had slipped. Yveri definitely had something to do with the murder. I needed to get information out of her.

"How close were you with Terry?" Maya had caught on as well, I could tell.

"Ah, he was my boyfriend's brother. How could I not be close with him? He was around everyday…he was a nice boy. Shame what happened to him. The hospital couldn't save him. I think he tried to protect Seiya during the explosion." She smiled at me, in a strangely seductive way. (Not the way April May did. Her's was more subtle. And I wasn't seduced either! She's a college student for heaven's sake!)

"I see. Is that a picture of him right there?" I indicated the picture of a brown, messy haired boy. He was smiling.

"Yes. You have great observational skills, defense attorney." She smiled again when I cringed. Now the way she said it, it seemed venomous…

"Who's bed is it by?" I asked.

"Vigor's, of course. I haven't had the heart to get rid of his stuff…" The smile stayed plastered on her face.

"Why does Vigor's bed…" Maya said slowly. "…why does it have lacey pillows? It's your bed, isn't it?" The smile vanished. "And why are your beds so far apart?"

"That's another question I cannot answer." She almost hissed, giving herself more suspicious points. "I think you should leave now." She started pushing us out the door, when I said something that I probably shouldn't have.

"You don't love Vigor, do you." Again, it wasn't a question. She stopped shoving us, then wore an expression that could compete with Seiyaku's, and shoved us out the door.

"Of course I do. We were a perfect match. I will never find another man like him." She hissed, before slamming the door. Maya and I turned around and stared at the closed door, which stayed closed. Yveri was cold, just like Seiya said. Andy was definitely on to something about their relationship. I would be able to get the information in court tomorrow. She couldn't refuse to answer questions then.

"Come on, Maya. Let's take a long walk home."

* * *

Sudden character chaannnggeee...ooooooohhhhhhhh...waggly finnggeerrrss... 

Seiyaku's a crazy sister. And Andy's a crazy...person.

And I would like y'all to review, please and thank you.


	6. Day 3: Trial Former

Hm. I updated this pretty quickly this time. Awright, this is the second to last chapter! Please enjoy! And review! And don't sue me, even though I obviously don't claim this as mine!

* * *

**November 17, 9:45  
District Court  
Defense Lobby No. 2**

"Hey, Mr. Wright." I stared a bit before answering, still unused to Seiya _actually talking._ (Well, yeah, I've known her for only a short time really, but it's very alarming…)

"Yo, Seiya!" Maya waved towards our client, even when she was only a foot away. "We'll definitely win this case for you! Right Nick?"

"Yeah…" I realized too late that I didn't sound as enthusiastic, and Maya started hitting me lightly as punishment.

"No, Nick! No! You're supposed to go like 'Yeah!' C'mon!" She reprimanded, continuing to flail at me as I raised an arm for weak protection.

"Ack! Um…'Yeah!'" That seemed to satisfy my partner, and I was relieved from her punishment. I looked towards Seiya and grinned, though she didn't grin back. She was obviously cowed by the bailiff that was in front of the doors. "Nervous? Don't worry. I'll find out a way to get you out of this mess." Assuring her (and sounding slightly like a commercial…) didn't help, and she glanced up at me before staring straight ahead again, pulling her hat down lower in a distraught manner. (How low can she pull it down, I wonder…)

The bailiff escorted us in and that was that. I caught a brief glimpse of Seiya walking right into the door frame before Maya and I were whisked away.

**November 17, 10:00  
District Court  
Courtroom No. 6 **

Seiya had walked right into her seat before sitting down, and immediately tried to make herself unseen by sliding slooowwwly down. From what I could see of her face, she looked like she was going to throw up.

"This court is now in session for the trial of Ms. Seiya Mizuki." The Judge thundered as he swung the gavel three times.

"The prosecution is ready." Franziska smiled smugly at me.

"The defense is ready." I replied by trying to glare back. I think I failed, and made myself look like I was squinting.

"The prosecution's opening statements, if you will, Ms. von Karma."

"Your Honor, we have found enough evidence to declare Ms. Seiya Mizuki guilty. We can easily explain away any…peculiarities or foolish inconsistencies that Mr. Phoenix Wright might find."

"Very well then. Continue." The Judge nodded wisely and looked expectantly towards the witness stand.

"I call Detective Dick Gumshoe to the stand." Once again, the detective lumbered forward to the witness stand and once again, stood there awkwardly, rubbing his bandage. "Detective Gumshoe, if you will…?"

"Right! Your Honor, sir, we have finally found the murder weapon!" He beamed and thrust out his chest, reminding me slightly of a robin. "It's this here pistol, see? Tests show that the bullets match, Your Honor."

"Hm. That's good news. Where was it, by the way?" The Judge peered down expectantly towards Gumshoe, making him uncomfortable. After watching him 'uhh'ing and 'err'ing, I decided to take pity on him.

"It was hidden in the sheath of a sword, belonging to Ms. Seiyaku Mizuki, Your Honor." Gumshoe gave me a Look. I have no idea whether it was one of gratitude (though it probably should be). "The sheath proved to be a very good hiding hole for any small object, as the sword does not fit it exactly."

"So the defendant shot the victim with this gun…" The Judge mused, nodding in an understanding manner. "Then hid the gun in the sheath, am I correct?"

"Actually, Your Honor, it was her sister." Franziska said across from me. "Continue, Detective."

"Right. The defendant definitely shot this at the victim, but her sister hid it. When tested for fingerprints, Seiyaku Mizuki's were all over it."

"Objection! Detective Gumshoe, if Ms. Seiyaku's fingerprints were 'all over' the pistol, then how can you tell that Seiya was the one who shot the gun?"

"She's still the only one who could have shot it, pal." Gumshoe retorted, grinning smugly at me. We may be friends, but in court, we were pretty much enemies. Gumshoe didn't really have a choice with Franziska breathing down his shoulder right next to him. Besides, it was his job. "Seiyaku was waiting outside. People did see her, and there was a witness who heard her thudding down the hall to kick down the door. Everybody else was at the party, or at least stayed there and went back too late to do the murder."

"Satisfied, Mr. Phoenix Wright?" I shivered, just like I did when Yveri called me 'defense attorney'.

"Not exactly. You still haven't explained why the victim was found face down."

"Oh, that can be explained easily. Tell him, Gumshoe." I suddenly realized…Franziska wasn't whipping somebody. That meant she was confident that she would win. Damn.

"See, the defendant murdered the victim, right? Then she turned him over to put the gun in his back pocket. Don't ask me why. She went to sleep after that. Then her sister came bursting in a little while later, saw the victim, saw the gun, and took it out and hid it, afraid that her sister was the murderer. Which she is." The Judge nodded, obviously afraid of Franziska's whip, even if she wasn't whipping anybody right that moment. The point is, she could be whipping someone in the near future, and he didn't want it to be anybody with a nice poofy beard.

"That sounds very plausible." He reasoned. "Mr. Wright, do you have any problems with this explanation?"

"Your Honor, though you believe that this answers many questions, I believe it leaves many questions unanswered. First of all, why did the defendant put the pistol in the victim's back pocket, rather than in the sword sheath like her sister did? And why would she want to kill Mr. Vous? This has not been brought up in yesterday's trial, but Ms. Mizuki does not have a motive to kill. And why would she immediately go to sleep after committing murder? It does not make any sense. I sure wouldn't go straight to bed after killing someone."

"I'm sure you think you're very smart, Mr. Phoenix Wright." Franziska told me in a 'you're not smart at all' way. "But first, I believe that the victim, was not dragged, but walked into the defendant's room while she was sleeping, and woke her up. There was a brief scuffle, in which she obtained the gun and shot him in the head, instantly killing him. Then, still a little sleepy, she put away the gun somewhere and then went back to sleep."

"But then how could she fight with the victim if she was sleepy?"

"I've investigated into this and found out that the defendant had trained in the martial arts, just like her sister. I would think that handling a big guy like Mr. Vous, even when sleepy, would be no problem to her." Up to this point, both the Judge and Gumshoe were moving their heads back and forth, as if watching a tennis match. (Well, Gumshoe tried once, but stopped because his head was still bothering him.) I didn't pay any attention to that, for the thought of Seiya being as strong as her sister was frightening. If a quiet girl like her could really be so tough…

"If you have no further objections, Mr. Wright, then the prosecution can call in their next witness." The Judge looked sternly down towards me, as if saying, 'Why did you waste all that time?'

"I call in Andy Monger, a boy who happened to be around just before the murder happened, to the stand." The messy-haired boy walked up, still holding his camera.

"Uh…cameras are not allowed…" The Judge began, but was cut off by a glare from said camera-holder.

"If y' don' let me keep m' camera, then I won't talk, no matter wat ya do!" I noticed that he was still talking in a horrible accent. "Y' c'n torture me all ya want, but y' can't take my freedom! What happened t' freedom o' th' press?" Andy was getting too enthusiastic. What he just said definitely bewildered and confused the Judge. He was probably thinking, 'but we don't torture people here…'

"Okay, you can keep it…" The Judge said, suddenly aware how little power he really had in his own court. I could see it on his face, that he was not happy about it indeed. "Well, what did you see?"

"I was outside, right? Jus' happened t' be outside a window, an' I looked in, an' I saw two people, right?"

"You may start your testimony now, witness."

"See, I was walkin' back from the party; Y'all already heard 'bout it, right?  
"Well, I was lookin' fer a scoop and was sneakin' 'round back o' th' apartments.  
"I just happened t' look in…  
"There was a li'l lady, I could tell, and there was a man, who looked like he jus' walked in. The door was open.  
"I think they were fightin', 'cause they looked like they were shoutin' at each other.  
"I walked away at that point, 'cause this weren't the scoop I was lookin' fer.  
"I didn' see nothin' else, promise!"

"He definitely saw something else." Maya said right after Andy finished. "He seems too excited. Maybe if you push at the right places, and push him hard, he'll slip!"

"The defense may begin their cross-examination." I breathed in and out, then started trying to push at the right places.

"Why did you leave the party?" I started.

"I already said, I was lookin' fer a scoop." Andy beamed back.

"And the party didn't have any? Nobody acting crazy, or embarrassing?"

"Naw. It was rather borin'."

"And you just left the party? You didn't want to stay and…well…party?" Andy was looking uncomfortable now, though still trying to beam brightly.

"No sahree."

"Well, I'm just saying that I know that when I was a teenager, I would rather party than go around in the cold, snooping around for a scoop that I wasn't sure I would find. Were you certain about this 'scoop' you were looking for?"

"Uh…I heard something around…really…"

"Why were you at the party then? Why didn't you just go straight after that scoop?"

"Objection!" Franziska butted in, adding a little whipping as a bonus. (She never whipped Maya…but then again, I'm the only one doing the talking.) "Your Honor, the defense is foolishly badgering the witness!" She raised her whip again, angrily.

"Oh, yes yes, quite so…Mr. Wright, please stop badgering the witness." The Judge stared sternly down at me, glancing nervously towards the whip in Franziska's hand once in a while.

"Alright." Time to approach this another way. "What was this scoop you were looking for, though? It must be pretty big to run around in the cold." Andy started beaming at me again, obviously confident that he could answer this without Franziska whipping him.

"Yup, it was a big scoop." Andy nodded eagerly, almost dropping his large camera. "But I can't tell you, you'll probably leak it to another newspaper on campus." (He was managing the only newspaper on Gatebridge College, which was manned by one person. Him. I wonder what newspaper he expected me to leak it to?)

"I think I can guess what the scoop was." I beamed back. Both of our beams together could power a lighthouse.

"Objection! Your Honor, whatever the foolish scoop the witness was looking for, it has no bearings on this case!" Franziska shouted at the Judge.

"Your Honor, I am very certain that this 'scoop' the witness was looking for involved the victim!" I shouted back.

"How'd you know that?!" Andy shouted at me (dropping his fake accent momentarily), adding to the confusion. The Judge moved his head around, confused, before banging his gavel several times. By this time, the shouting had moved on into the spectators, who were cheerfully telling each other about their wedding or something. (Hey, I don't know what they ever talk about.)

"Well, I think the witness has confessed to the defense's claims. Objection overruled."

"F-fool!" Franziska glared at Andy (since he was the cause of this) and whipped him several times, amazingly missing his huge camera.

"But Mr. Wright. If this is just wasting our time, then I'm afraid I'll have to penalize you."

"Yes, Your Honor."

"So…what'm I supos' t' do now?" Andy asked, rubbing his new welts.

"You just answer my questions truthfully. Now, Andy, this scoop you were talking about, was it about a feud between the victim and his girlfriend?"

"Y' can't prove nothin'." Andy replied, crossing his arms as best as he could with a camera in his hands and turning his back slightly towards me.

"Well, I just so happen to still have those notes on Mr. Rous you so generously gave to me. And I found something interesting in them too." I grinned and took out the folder (don't ask from where) and opened it. "Right here. 'The Perfect Couple: Having a Feud?!?!?'"

"That's certainly a lot of punctuation." The Judge duly noticed.

"Yeah, it's true…I followed Yveri an' Vigor t' th' party, thinkin' I could, y'know, get somethin' outta it. Nothin' much happened, but then they both went back t' th' apartment, an' I followed 'em o' course. Th' window I looked in…I was around th' back 'cause I wanted to see what they did, but I had no clue who's window that was, honestly."

"So, the window you looked in was not necessarily the defendant's…" The Judge nodded and stared sternly towards Andy. "That's a very important detail. Why didn't you tell us?"

"Ah…was it? I didn' realize…" Andy scratched the back of his head sheepishly, as if not knowing which window he looked in was Seiya's or not. This was the kind of information that could decide the whole case. I glanced towards Franziska, and noted how she was trying not to look surprised. So Andy didn't tell her that too. "I promise t' tell everythin' in full detail next time, Y' Honor."

"Right then. Continue, Mr. Wright."

"Well, Mr. Monger, I would just like to ask you something else. Is that really all you saw? Since this was a scoop you were looking for. I doubt that once you saw the fight, you'd just want to leave. I bet you took some pictures."

"Well…what if I forgot my camera?"

"For heaven's sake, you're a newspaper reporter!" The Judge shouted exasperatedly, the fact of the 'Scandal Mongers' unknown to him. "When a reporter is going after a scoop, then he always brings his camera! You even have it now, even when it's not allowed!"

"Ah, that reminds me, Y' Honor!" Andy held up the camera to his face. Maya and I instinctively raised our arms, but not everybody was just as lucky. There was shouts of confusion and alarm as, all of a sudden, the majority of the court went temporarily blind. Franziska, being the demonic prosecutor spawn that she was, (me and Maya joke about sometimes…don't tell her…) was unfazed and just whipped Andy once again.

"Fool! You may not take pictures! And get rid of that foolishly bright flash!" She roared, flinging her whip some more. She also accidentally hit me once during that whipping session, though I somehow doubt it was an accident.

"Nuuuuuuuuawowowowowow!" Andy cried back, trying to say 'No' and 'ow' at the same time.

The Judge, squinting and blinking, decided to step in at this point. "Everybody!" He roared through the confused moans from his high perch. He banged his gavel as well, probably because he felt it necessary. "Let's all calm do-ow!"

"Everybody calm down!" Franziska continued and whipped her podium. "There will be silence!"

I took this chance to shout, "Andy! You saw more, didn't you!"

"Awright, awright!" He shouted back, his head appearing over the podium again. He had disappeared downwards to try to avoid all other whips coming his way. "I did see more!" After that, the crowds managed to be quiet, though there were still some quiet groans of people rubbing their eyes. The Judge looked like he could still see those purple spots. "Uh…" Andy looked towards Franziska nervously, aware of what he just said. "I mean…" He ducked down in time to avoid a whip to the cheek and instead took it to the top of his head. "Yeooww!"

"Well then…I believe we need a testimony of _everything_ you saw, Mr. Monger."

"Yes Y' Honor…" Andy moaned and rubbed the top of his head. I noticed his eyes were beginning to tear.

"Alright, ya caught me. I came in earlier, just in time to see two people walk in the room.  
"There was a female, I could tell, an' anybody c'n rec'nize Vigor a mile off.  
"So, Vigor an' the lady were talking, then they started fighting.  
"Vigor advanced on the lady, see, and put down something on a counter.  
"Just before he grabbed 'er, though, th' lady picked up th' thing he put on the counter and whacked him over the head with it!  
Vigor staggered around a bit, enough time fer th' lady t' grab something out of his back pocket and hold it in a threatening manner!  
"…Yeah, I did take a snapshot, by th' way…  
"Th' flash startled th' lady an' she looked t'wards me, so I went an' ran."

"That's all, honest!" He finished, slamming the stand almost as well as a professional lawyer. He apparently hurt himself in the process, because he started breathing in through his teeth and waving his hand around before holding on to his camera again.

"Can we see this photo that you took, by the way?" The Judge asked.

"Ah, hang on…I've developed it…'s in 'ere somewhere…" A few seconds later, he procured a photo with a flourish and it was immediately transported to the Judge.

"Hm…this woman can be anybody…" He merely commented and allowed it to be shown to me and Franziska.

The photo was obviously taken in an elevated area and from a slight distance from the window. It managed to contain a big, burly man-ish figure, which I could only assume to be Vigor. There was a smaller figure that was right in front of him, holding something in front of her. It definitely looked like a pistol.

"Anyways, the defense may begin their cross-examination."

"Alright, Nick, we've gotta prove that the window Andy peered in wasn't Seiya's!"

I nodded. "I know. Just let me think…

"Andy, one question. When the two people walked in, did you hear anything?"

"No, why ya ask?" Andy replied, looking puzzled. "Didn' hear nothin' at all."

"Your Honor, if the defendant really was the murderer, then the witness would have heard something!"

"Hm? What? What are you talking about, Mr. Wright?"

"It came up in an earlier testimony. Remember when Ms. Seiyaku Mizuki went up to the stand? She said she kicked down the door, right?"

"Yes, but what does that have to do with anything?" The Judge frowned in concentration.

"Well, after that, I believe she said that something beeped. Remember?"

The Judge's face lit up with realization. "Oh! Yes! I do remember!" I was about to go with my signature smirk, but Franziska interrupted. (In case you were expecting it, 'Damn.')

"Objection! Your Honor, the witness couldn't have heard it because he was simply too far away!" She gave a look to Andy, and he shut his open mouth. I think he bit his tongue.

"Hm. Well, Mr. Wright, can you prove that Andy was close enough to hear it? No? Then, objection sustained. Please continue your cross examination, Mr. Wright." I could see Franziska giving me a 'Nice try, bud' look from across the court.

"Mr. Monger, can you tell what object was used to hit the victim on the head?" I asked next.

"Couldn' hear nothin', but I'm pretty sure it was some bottle o' some sort. You prob'ly already know from m' notes that he's a drunk. Th' thing disappeared 's soon as she whacked 'im, so a glass bottle comes t' mind, yeah."

"Hm. There must be a lot of glass shards." The Judge nodded.

"The report doesn't say anything about broken glass being found in any of the searched rooms, Your Honor." Franziska told him, taking out her report.

"Very well then. Mr. Wright? Do you have anything to say?"

"Only that the defendant is not guilty."

"Yes, yes, I think we can gather that the defense foolishly believes the defendant is not guilty. How about some proof?" Franziska drolled. (For some reason, at this point, I was reminded of Seiyaku's nickname for her – Bleach Hair Lady.) "Why are you chuckling?"

"I have proof." I said quickly, covering for my slip-up. "On the very first day, I found something right outside of the defendant's door. I had no idea what it was until now."

"Well, what is this proof? I hope you aren't just wasting our time, Mr. Wright." The Judge said sternly, glaring down at me with all the ferocity of a puppy.

"Of course not, Your Honor. You know me. Now the proof is…" I took out the glass pieces that I found the very first day. (Don't ask from where.) "…these broken glass pieces."

"Hey, those could be that bottle th' lady swung, right?" Andy said excitedly, but then frowned. "There ain't enough pieces t' make up a bottle, though…an' why were they outside Seiya's room?"

"That's what I want to know. Please explain, Mr. Wright."

"Mr. Monger saw a woman whack the victim over the head with most likely a glass bottle, correct? Only he couldn't tell who the woman was, right?" Everybody nodded. (Yes, the people watching too…Seiya groaned, which I think was an agreement.)

"And the pieces of glass were found outside the defendant's room, so she whacked him over the head? That makes her seem guilty, Mr. Wright."

"What a foolish way to prove your foolish defendant not guilty. Fool."

"No, no, no! I'm just wondering, why were the pieces of the glass bottle found _outside_ her door if the victim was supposedly whacked on the head inside a room?" That seemed to do it. Everybody simultaneously said 'Ohhhhh'. (Not Franziska, she was too busy glaring daggers at me. Not Seiya either, because she didn't do it.) "Your Honor, if you remember my claims yesterday, I said that the victim was dragged into the defendant's room. I believe this proves it. The victim was hit on the head with the glass bottle, shot with the pistol, and then was dragged! The pieces of glass that was on his head fell off as the murderer dragged him!" I was suddenly reminded of that old board game, Clue, though Clue didn't have several people talking to each other excitedly whenever you proved a point and a judge (and by the way, he was swinging his gavel by that time.)

"Mr. Phoenix Wright, if I understand your foolish accusations correctly, then the only other person that could have committed the murder, according to the witness's testimony, is the victim's girlfriend!" More talking, more banging. (Of gavels.)

"Order! Order!" The Judge roared, before turning to me. "Mr. Wright, are you really accusing the victim's girlfriend of murder?"

"Yes, Your Honor, I believe I am."

"Hm. Where is the victim's girlfriend anyways?" He asked Franziska, who had already composed herself.

"She's the next witness, Your Honor."

"Ah, how convenient!" He brightened up. I guess after holding many cases about murder, anything would make you happy. "There will be a ten minute break before we call…what's her name?"

"Ms. Jalus." Franziska growled, fingering her whip. Maya backed away from our stand a bit.

"Ms. Jalus to the stand." (So decrees the Super Judge!)

**November 17, 11:20  
District Court  
Defense Lobby No. 2 **

"Man, that was close…" Maya sighed. "We're lucky Andy thought it was a glass bottle. If he thought that it was some action figure, then you'd be found guilty for sure." Seiya didn't find this very soothing.

"Wh-what? Was it really that close a call?" She whimpered, leaving me to just imagine her expression.

"Ah! Don't worry! Nick'll definitely get you a not guilty verdict!" Maya shouted, trying to fix her mistake. "The next girl, we met her and she seemed suspicious!"

"I didn't think she'd murder though…Yveri was really nice…" Seiya looked towards a very attractive corner before looking up at me again. "Why would she want to put the blame on me, though?"

* * *

Mmm. My sister's in China (or at least on the plane). I have no idea why I said that, but please review. I mean it. C'mon! This thing's almost done! Pleeaasseee? 


	7. Day 3: End

Finalllyyyyy! I'm sorry I put off updating this...but oh well. It's up now!

* * *

**November 17, 11:30  
District Court  
Courtroom No. 6**

This was possibly my last chance. Yveri was now on the stand, and if I caught her, then the whole case would finally be over. If I didn't, well…I just have to catch her. I was probably staring at her too intensely, because Yveri seemed to suddenly notice me and she smiled coldly. Then, she looked away again because the Judge was now banging his gavel and starting the trial.

"The court will now reconvene for the trial for Ms. Seiya Mizuki." The Judge said. "Hm…so this is the victim's girlfriend?"

"Yveri Jalus, at your service." Yveri leaned on the stand on her elbows and smiled in a seductive manner. All of a sudden, every man in court got a bad nosebleed. (Alright, that was a joke.)

"…Ms. Von Karma, what did Ms. Jalus witness?" The Judge asked, staring down at the very attractive college girl. (Not that I like her.)

"She's here to prove that Ms. Mizuki is guilty, Your Honor." Franziska replied.

"It's…rather cold out…" The Judge commented, noticing how little Yveri was wearing. "…don't you have a coat?"

"No, Your Honor." Yveri responded, still smiling in that strangely seductive way. No wonder everybody thought that Vigor should go out with her. They were going with the 'most beautiful girl in the school going out with the most muscular boy in school' stereotype. And Yveri definitely had to be the most beautiful girl back in school. (Not that I like her.)

"Um…shouldn't you wear a little bit more then…?"

"Your Honor, can we move along with the case now?" Franziska growled, reminding him that he was in a court.

"Ahem. Right." The Judge coughed through his thick white beard.

"Honestly, I don't know who shot my boyfriend, but he wasn't shot in my room." Yveri suddenly started, shifting her weight so her cleavage could look more seducing. "I heard those accusations, defense attorney, and I should tell you, I did not, in any way, shoot my boyfriend. The last I saw of him was after we left the party."

"Very well. Can you testify about that, please?"

"Yes, Your Honor." Yveri said. Seductively. I need to find a synonym for that.

"I did go to the party, but I left early with my boyfriend back to my apartment.  
"I went inside, but Vigor said he needed to do something and left.  
"Vigor never took one step into my room that night, so I couldn't be the murderer the reporter saw."

"I see. If you're telling the truth, then it really can be only the defendant who did the murder." The Judge nodded. "And if the last witness was telling the truth, then the defendant was being harassed by the victim before she killed him…so it was a self-defense murder?"

"No, Your Honor, the defendant is completely innocent."

"Then prove it, Mr. Phoenix Wright. Go ahead and foolishly cross-examine this perfect testimony." (Too bad it wasn't perfect. It was too short for my taste, plus of course it was revealed later on that Yveri wasn't telling the truth anyways.) Franziska grinned cruelly at me before glaring at the Judge. "What are you doing! Start the cross-examination!"

"Yes, ma'am! Right away! The defendant may begin the cross-examination!" The Judge shouted hurriedly before Franziska could raise her arm in time to whip somebody, to the relief of several personals in the court at the time, including me. "Erm…I mean defense. The defense may begin the cross-examination." He swiftly corrected.

"Aw man, it's gonna be hard to find anything wrong with that testimony."

"…I'll just have to press really hard then." With my confidence bolstered, thanks to my trusty partner, I charged forward. The first thing in that testimony that caught my attention…

"Why did you leave the party early?"

"Oh, Vigor wanted to. I came along to make sure he came back safely, because I was afraid he was too drunk. Is that good enough for you, defense attorney?"

"…Yes."

"What's wrong, Nick? You just made a hissing noise with your teeth." Maya whispered.

"Nothing, nothing. I'm fine." I hastily replied, then turned back to the matter at hand. Yveri looked back calmly and just smiled again. (She reminded of one of those women in one of those shows that Maya's obsessed with. Some animated thing about pirates. Yeah, that's it. And that woman's name…it's a bird…or something…) "Um…I'm guessing you don't know what the victim was going to do before he died?" I asked her in my normal, talking voice. (Not too loud, not too soft.)

"That's right, defense attorney." Yveri shifted her weight again on the podium, now supporting her head with only one arm while the other rested on top of the surface. "I have absolutely no idea what my boyfriend set out to do that night."

"You mean he never told you anything?" I haven't had many girlfriends in my lifetime, to be honest, but I always thought that being boyfriend and girlfriend, you had to share everything or face the wrath of your girlfriend.

Yveri shrugged. "I never know where he goes out at night. He drinks, and I know he does, because he always came home late and…well…drunk."

"Was he always a drunkard?"

"No." The answer took me completely by surprise. I thought that she would have said 'Yes', because this questioning that I was doing was beginning to lead up to the death of Terry. I almost shouted 'Objection' before I realized she said the opposite of what I thought she was going to say. I covered my 'Ob…!' with a loud cough.

"Are you alright, Mr. Wright?" The Judge asked, looking at me in slight annoyance. "Do you need a break or a drink of water?"

"No, no…I'm fine, Your Honor. Do you know when he started drinking?"

"Objection!" Franziska shouted angrily. "Your Honor, this has nothing to do with this case!"

"Hm. I think I agree…" The Judge nodded. "Mr. Wright, is this really important?"

"Yes, Your Honor. If you would just let the witness answer…"

"He started drinking after the death of his brother, Your Honor. He was also a very violent drunk." Yveri smiled gently up at the old man, who was obviously unused to beautiful young women smiling at him. (Not that I'm attracted to her in any way.)

"Ah. Um. That is…can you testify about the death of the victim's brother…?" The Judge swung around his arms as he talked, and his gavel was still in one of his hands. It almost started for someone's head, but his grip tightened around it in time, and all was well.

"I'd be glad to." Yveri nodded. I only wished she was this compliant when I asked her questions.

"Vigor's brother, Terry, and the defendant over there, were friends.  
"One day, last year, they were working on a chemistry experiment.  
"An explosion occurred, because of some wrong mixtures, and Terry died."

She shook her head sadly, and looked up again. "It's very sad. Vigor was so excited about his brother being in the same college as him…and on his very first year, he died. That's when he started drinking, Your Honor."

"Hm. I see. I think I know what happened now." The Judge nodded, suddenly non-flustered. "The victim was full of grief for his brother and decided to commit murder in revenge. Unfortunately, he was murdered instead."

"Wh-whaaaaat?!?" I really didn't want the case to go that way! At this rate, the Judge would bang his gavel and shout in a deep, growling voice, 'GUILTY!' Seiya was innocent, I was certain of it! What a sneaky trap. Yveri was still smiling softly. Damn her.

"You're right, Your Honor." Franziska smirked, showing delight in my horror-struck face. (The spectators were beginning to murmur, but the Judge showed no signs of swinging his gavel. I could hear a strangely familiar voice shouting, 'You bastard! You promised you'd get her outta this!')

"At this point, I could declare the defendant guilty." He commented, adding to my despair without any apparent knowledge.

"Y-your Honor, I should still do the cross-examination…" I pointed out weakly.

"Ah yes. Go ahead, Mr. Wright. I'm not sure what good it'll do." (Yeah, thanks a lot.)

"It's all or nothing, Nick…good luck…" Maya said mournfully besides me, almost making me break out in tears for the stress.

"Um…how close were…the defendant and the victim's brother?" I started, but never got an answer, for Franziska butted in.

"Objection! That has nothing to do with this case whatsoever! The victim's brother is dead, and there is no use questioning about the relationship between a guilty woman and a dead man." I made no indication of any retort and the prosecutor smirked at me, obviously confident that the whole case was in the bag now.

"Uh…how bad was the explosion?" I continued, and this time Franziska didn't interrupt.

"Pretty bad, considering it killed one guy." Yveri responded, and it was then I noticed something weird.

"What did the explosion do to the defendant? She was there at the time also."

"Who knows? You'll have to ask her yourself, but right now, I don't think she's in the condition to do so." At that point, everybody in the court looked towards the hat that I could only assume had Seiya under it. She had sunk low under her stand at this point, and her face, I imagined, was very distraught.

"And how did Terry's death affect…you?" This time Yveri was caught off guard, and she showed it by suddenly standing up straight, then leaning on the podium again, as if nothing happened, though she wasn't smiling anymore, but staring at me warily. At least I was considered a threat to _someone_.

"Why would you ask _me_ that? It affected Vigor the most. I'm only his brother's girlfriend; I didn't know him all that well. Vigor was his _brother_. Terry's death drove my boyfriend to drink, not me."

"Yes, but how did Terry's death affect you?" I repeated patiently. My tone seemed to have struck a nerve with Yveri, because she answered it gruffly.

"Not much. Like I said, I didn't know him very well. It was very sad of course. His death really took a toll on my boyfriend. It was horrible to watch, really, so I guess his death affected me in an indirect way."

I decided to continue pressing. "It must have affected you much more than that. You visit his grave, correct?"

"That's true, but only because I feel obliged to. Vigor never visits his grave, you know."

"And you had a picture of Terry besides your bed." I pointed out.

"You don't know if that was actually him, defense attorney. It could be my cousin for all you know." D'oh! She was right, of course. Call it a hunch, but I knew that was a picture of Terry. Unfortunately, I couldn't prove that it was. Damn.

"Are you done with this line of questioning, Mr. Phoenix Wright? I'm beginning to think that this is a waste of time." Franziska drolled from the other side of the court.

"This is rather tedious…" The Judge added from his perch. "Are you done, Mr. Wright?"

"Arg! I can't find anything wrong with her testimony!" I moaned, "There's no way out but a guilty verdict!"

"Nick, there's gotta be something else! Something else we overlooked!" Maya shouted at me. "You can't give up!"

"May I leave now, Your Honor?" Yveri smiled, and finally stood up straight. "I think you have enough evidence…"

"Yes, of course. Thank you for your time…" Dammit! There had to be something!

I desperately cried out, "Objection!" which got everybody's attention. (It always does, no matter where you are.) The Judge hardly looked patient.

"Yes, Mr. Wright? Do you have anything to tell us?"

"…Just one last chance…I think I have something. Please, Your Honor." The Judge, being the lenient man he was, stared darkly at me for a bit before nodding.

"Fine. I'll give you one chance to prove to the court that there is a possibility of the defendant being not guilty." Okay, got my one chance. If I slip up on this, it would be over. I had to come up with something fast.

I went over the whole trial today, and wondered again, what happened to Seiya in that explosion? Since it was powerful enough to kill, it must have done something to her as well. I looked at the hat, and then finally thought of something. It was risky, but then again, pretty much everything I did was.

"Your Honor, I have one request. I would like the defendant to stand up and take off her hat." Franziska immediately whipped me, no hesitation. Maya looked at me weirdly.

"Foolishness!" She (being Franziska of course) roared angrily, raising her whip once again. "How can this foolish request have anything to do with what we're doing now?!"

"Mr. Wright, I hope you're not wasting your chance!" The Judge added before looking towards Seiya. "Well, defendant, please take off your hat." The hat disappeared from the podium. "…Stand up, please." The podium was silent and still, as if staying uninteresting would make everybody go away. "Stand up, please." The Judge repeated, this time glaring. Even though the Judge wasn't the best glarer (Franziska would be the best here), Seiya slowly stood up, growing paler every second, obviously disliking the attention thrust onto her very much. But nobody was looking at how pale her face was, they were looking at the bandage around her left eye, and how her right looked glazed and unseeing, mostly because it probably couldn't see very well. I was amazed. My luck can be astounding sometimes.

"Well…ahem…this is…" He stuttered, caught off guard.

"Your Honor…my client, as you can see…is blind in one eye and apparently…uh…almost blinded in the other…" I also stuttered, caught off guard as well, but I recovered quickly. "…So I wonder how she can shoot a man in the middle of the forehead so accurately."

"Well…then this changes everything!" The Judge finally said, apparently unaware of all the talking that was going on now. (One familiar voice shouted, "Dammit, you made me worried!") "Then the only other person who could kill the victim is Yveri, isn't it?" Said girl was shooting glares at me now and tugging on her short hair nervously, while still managing to show off her cleavage (not that I was looking).

"Objection! Your Honor, the vision of the defendant is questionable. I would like to check with her doctor on how well she can actually see." Franziska declared, practically unfazed. "I suggest we prolong the trial." Dammit! I couldn't let her do that! I had to prove right then and there that Yveri was the guilty one.

"Objection! It's blatantly obvious that it's impossible for the defendant to have done the murder, and therefore, the woman that Mr. Monger saw was Ms. Jalus! There's no other possibility - gah!" You guessed it. Franziska brought out the whip.

"I say that it is possible! It is!" She roared again, her face contorted in absolute anger. It was very scary. She whipped her own podium to gain attention that was already on her. "The witness wouldn't kill her own boyfriend, of course!"

"Ms. von Karma, I have to say, I doubt the defendant's guilt." The Judge bravely stood up in Franizska's line of fire, but amazingly, he wasn't whipped. I wish I had that luck.

"I didn't do it! I didn't! I would never kill my boyfriend!" Yveri finally snapped, and she had started crying hysterically, slamming her podium, shaking her head, and all around moving about. Her breasts jiggled as if there was a party going on in there. (Not that I was looking.) "It wasn't me! It could have been…it could have been Andy! He was at the apartment too!" And on and on she went, silencing pretty much everybody in the court. The Judge was thoroughly confused, and tried to comfort her whenever possible.

"You don't love Vigor, do you!" The same line, said before, only met with a different reaction. Yveri stared at me, still crying, though this time she fell silent. Her mouth was open in a silent…well, it was open slightly. Then suddenly, she screamed.

Everybody winced, of course, (and the Judge grew even more baffled because, like all the other men, women were a confusing, emotional, fickle, thing to him.) because of the sheer volume, plus she started to pull on her hair, which looked very painful and messed it up badly. At the end, she made a loud 'THWACK!' when she threw her head onto the stand and stayed there for several minutes. The Judge started, "Um-" but was interrupted by Yveri, who had stood up again, still crying, but now staring at me. Not in loathing or anything, but more of a 'help me' stare. A bruise started to form on her forehead. I tried staring at it instead of at her face.

"Yes, I don't love him." She whispered.

"You love his brother."

"I thought I loved him! I really did! That's why we got together in the first place!" She wailed, and I was worried she would start pulling her hair and banging her head again, but she merely kept crying.

"But it was only peer pressure, wasn't it."

"Terry was always around, and I didn't know anything until he died! And then I changed, and Vigor changed…we started fighting. I was going to break up with him, finally, but when we were alone in my apartment, he started shouting. He was obviously drunk. He shouted…'You don't love me, you bitch! You don't love me! You love my dead, jackass of a brother!' And he started advancing on me. I hit him on the head with his beer bottle and took out his gun and threatened him with it so he wouldn't come closer. But…I was distracted by a flash. He saw that and jumped towards me, and…I just pulled the trigger. And the first idea that popped into my head…frame the person who killed who I really loved. I dragged his body next door and hid in the bass case when I heard her sister come." By this time, Yveri had composed herself once again and she looked up at the Judge, this time, not smiling. "Your Honor, I am guilty. I murdered him. I murdered the man I thought I loved."

There was silence in the court (I believe Andy had a field day and was probably writing on a notepad somewhere), except for Franziska's frustrated poundings on her podium and her mutters of 'Fools' and 'Impossible'. The Judge coughed, and said, "Well…um…that was a surprising turn of events. You did it again, Mr. Wright."

"Thanks, Your Honor." I replied mournfully. The whole confession was a bit depressing.

"Without further ado, I declare the defendant…

**Not Guilty.**"

The Judge's booming voice led towards much cheering and celebration and confetti, which showed Gumshoe was at work. "The court is dismissed."

**November 17, 1:03  
District Court  
Defense Lobby No. 2 **

"You did it, Nick! C'mon, Seiya! Be happier!"

"Ah…but Yveri really did frame me…" Seiya, still one of the most depressing person I've ever met, looked down towards the floor, wringing her hat in her hands. "This really is entirely my fault…if I hadn't made that one mistake, Terry wouldn't have died…Vigor wouldn't have started drinking…Yveri wouldn't have to kill him…"

"No, it wasn't your fault! You couldn't have known!" Maya tried to comfort her, but knew she wasn't good at it. She looked at me desperately, pleading me to come up with something to cheer her up.

"Uh…" I started, inducing a glare from my partner. "…Seiya, you were mixing two chemicals, right?" I got a solemn nod. "And the explosion was apparently made by you when you made a mistake?" Another solemn nod, and a glare from Maya. "And why weren't you killed by the explosion?"

"…Apparently, Terry stood in front of me to protect me…" She muttered.

"And that's when you were almost blinded. Terry's death wasn't your fault, Seiya. Only the explosion was your fault. You would have been killed, but Terry decided to protect you. You didn't cause his death, he died to protect you, of his own free will. He didn't have to stand in front of you, right?" Seiya nodded again, but this time slowly, as she explored this new thought.

"…You know, I started wearing this hat because I felt ashamed that Terry died, but I got away with only blindness…" Seiyaku suddenly tackled Seiya at that moment, so I had no idea what she was about to say next.

"You did it! You got a Not Guilty verdict!" She shouted happily to her sister, even though I was the lawyer. I was happy to pass on the tackle though. "Why didn't you tell me you're blind?!" Seiyaku suddenly shouted, shaking her sister angrily. I was about to step in bravely, afraid of what could happen next, but all of a sudden, Seiyaku broke into a wide grin again. "We gotta celebrate! Wright! Weird girl! We're gonna get some steak!"

"Uh…can I come too?" Gumshoe asked meekly behind us.

"Sure! Whatever!" Seiyaku replied before dragging Seiya away towards her car, cheerfully unaware of Maya's peeved face and ignorant of who her extra passenger was. 

"Done." Phoenix Wright, ace attorney, sat back in his chair, a look of success and discomfort all over his face. "My fingers really ache now…"

Phoenix wasn't entirely sure why he wrote his case files in a certain way. He didn't think anybody was going to read them in the near future anytime soon. Maya certainly wasn't interested in reading about cases she had already been to. She'd rather watch whatever ninja/feudal era/cartoon show happened to be on at the moment. So while Phoenix set the newly-written case file in its place, in the shelves that also held Mia's old files, Maya didn't stir from her spot in front of the TV. Nor did she stir when someone knocked at the door of Wright and Co. Law Offices.

Not even stirring when, in reality, it came from the wall.

Puzzled, Phoenix walked over to the door, opened it, and looked to the right. Seiya was there, staring in front of her, obviously unaware that she had just missed the door by a few inches. Seiyaku was there as well, and she tugged her sister to her side and smiled at the lawyer. "Hey, Wright. Got your pay, plus a little tip from us." With a flourish, the check was presented to all in all its glory. Phoenix almost cried with joy.

"Oh, you didn't have to…" He answered, though he took the check anyways.

"I'm very grateful, Mr. Wright." Seiya said, staring at his shoulder. "You saved me and I'm finally not ashamed about my eyes."

"That's why she took off the hat." Seiyaku whispered to him.

"If you want, I got some tickets to a circus," Seiya continued, apparently unaware of the little interruption. "Three, in fact. They're a little early…but I got them courtesy of a friend of mine. We're not interested, of course, but I thought you and Maya would like them."

Before Phoenix could respond, Maya ran up to the door. "Really? A circus? Thanks!" She swiped the tickets, risking a paper cut, then glanced at Seiya again. "Hey, you're almost blind, right?" She ignored a sharp nudge at her side and a hissed 'Maya!' in her ear. "What do I look like?" Seiyaku appeared not to care, and Seiya didn't seem insulted.

"A big, fuzzy mass." She replied, smiling at the top of Maya's head. "I don't think you have purple hair, do you?"

"No, my clothes are sorta purple. Nice try, though!" Seiya smiled one last time at her before turning back to Phoenix.

"Thank you again, Mr. Wright. I'm sorry for knocking on your door and then running away…"

"That was you?" Phoenix stared at the once shy girl. Well, it explained why nobody was at the door at first. "But weren't you supposed to be at the detention center?"

"Ah, I told the folks there that she only wanted to find a lawyer. That convinced them." Seiyaku said. Phoenix didn't seem surprised. "But then she up and ran away at your door. I chased after her until she ran into a wall, then came back t' hire you."

"Oh." _So she trusted us after all. _Phoenix made a mental note to edit something in the file someday. "Well, thanks for the tickets," He said, knowing that Maya would never let him refuse them. She took it already anyways.

* * *


End file.
